New York Racist Attack: Search Underway For Suspect Who Hit Asian Woman With Umbrella On Bus

The New York Police Departement was on the lookout for a woman who viciously assaulted an Asian woman with an umbrella on a Bronx MTA bus last month after shouting racist comments at her.

The incident took place on March 28 when an unidentified woman and three teenage girls approached a 51-year-old woman and confronted her with anti-Asian comments. The group then attacked the victim, hitting her on the head with an umbrella, before fleeing.

The victim was bleeding from her head when she was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she had to get stitches.

The woman was riding a Bx13 bus near West 166th Street and Ogden Avenue in the Highbridge section of the Bronx.

Shortly after the incident the police arrested three 15-year-old girls and charged them with hate-crime assault, menacing and harassment. The other female, whose age was not known, who attacked the victim with the umbrella was not yet identified.

The police released a surveillance image of the suspect who is seen wearing a pink headband and black jacket leaning over a bar on the bus to attack the victim. The police have requested the help of the public in identifying the suspect. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS.

The attack was inspired by the anti–Asian hate crime that has seen a rise in number in the country after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Asian descendants across the country have been reporting xenophobic incidents occurring to them since the COVID-19 outbreak.

In an incident that took place in Los Angeles in February, Tanny Jiraprapasuke, 44, had to face a man’s angry rant during a train ride. She initially wasn’t paying attention to the man yelling at her, however became concerned once she realized the man’s outrage was regarding the coronavirus spread.

"I'm not even Chinese. ... He's really attacking me because I look a certain way," Jiraprapasuke, a Thai American, told local media. "So, for me, it was just, 'Oh my God, my community's under attack."

In a video posted on her Facebook profile, the man is seen yelling about Chinese Americans, blaming China as the source of the coronavirus. Jiraprapasuke mentioned that she was the only Asian American on the train, and felt very alone at that moment.