After Asian Man's Beating In Harlem, Search For Suspect Continues

EAST HARLEM, NY — Police on Monday continued to search for the person accused of brutally assaulting a 61-year-old Asian man last week, leaving him in critical condition.

Authorities released new surveillance images on Monday that showed the suspect, identified as a dark-skinned man who was wearing a black jacket, black pants, white sneakers and a baseball cap when he committed the assault Friday night.

The victim has been identified in other reports as Yao Pan Ma, who was reportedly collecting cans to support his family when he was attacked after 10 p.m. Friday on the corner of Third Avenue and East 125th Street.

The suspect pushed Ma to the ground by hitting him in the back, continuing to kick him in the head before walking away, the video shows. Ma was taken to Harlem Hospital in critical but stable condition and later placed into a medically-induced coma.

Police had no update as to his condition on Monday.

The attack, which is being investigated as a hate crime, came amid a wave of similar attacks targeting Asians in New York — like the beating of a 65-year-old Filipino woman in Hell's Kitchen last month.

Demanding an end to the violence, clergy and other neighborhood leaders rallied in Harlem earlier this month — an event that doubled as a celebration of Korean-American restaurateur Betty Park and as a call for racial unity.

Police found Ma after a bus driver passing by noticed him unconscious on the ground and called paramedics, the New York Times reported Monday. Surveillance footage showed that Ma and the suspect had not spoken before the attack, suggesting it may have been racially motivated, the Times reported.

Ma's wife, Baozhen Chen, told the Daily News that her husband had been a dessert chef in China before they moved to New York in 2019, searching for better jobs.

Police had recorded 66 anti-Asian hate crimes this year through April 18, the Daily News reported, far greater than last year's total. (Advocates believe the official figures are likely undercounted).

Efforts to help Ma's family with food and medical bills are being organized by Assemblymembers Ron Kim and Robert Rodriguez, who called the attack "a tremendously horrible act of violence."

"This is somebody who is hardworking and always has been, and made refuge here in East Harlem like many immigrant groups here before them," he told Patch on Monday. "We've got to stand up against it."

Rodriguez's office has also confirmed that an online fundraiser on GoFundMe will send proceeds directly to Ma's family.

Police have asked anyone with information about the attack to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-8477, 1-888-57--74782 for Spanish or log the tip online at nypdcrimestoppers.com or @NYPDTips on Twitter.

New video from Assault on Fri. April 23rd, approx. 8:20 PM, 3rd Ave & E. 125 St., when a male Asian, 61, was struck, causing him to fall to the ground; he was then kicked multiple times in the head. Info? Call 1-&00-577-TIPS @NYPDDetectives @NYPD25Pct @125thstreetbid pic.twitter.com/HUEOlhJfgn
— NYPD Hate Crimes (@NYPDHateCrimes) April 26, 2021

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