Arrest Made In Beating Of Asian Man In East Harlem, Police Say

EAST HARLEM, NY — Police arrested an East Harlem man on Tuesday in connection with last week's brutal beating of an Asian man on a neighborhood street, authorities said.

The suspect, 49-year-old Jarrod Powell, lived nearby on East 125th Street, police said. He was arrested around 2:45 a.m. Tuesday and faces charges of attempted murder and two counts of assault as a hate crime.

The arrest came three days after police began searching for a suspect in Friday night's assault on Yao Pan Ma, a 61-year-old man originally from China who was reportedly collecting cans on Third Avenue and East 125th Street when he was attacked.

Surveillance video showed an unidentified man pushing Ma to the ground by hitting him in the back, continuing to kick him in the head before walking away.

Ma was taken to Harlem Hospital in critical condition and later placed into a medically-induced coma. As of Tuesday morning, he was still "fighting for his life" and suffering from swelling around the brain, according to Assemblymember Ron Kim, who has worked to support Ma's family by coordinating online fundraisers.

Yao Pan Ma is fighting for his life this morning. They can't conduct surgery due to the over swelling around his brain.

Send your love for Yao here and help us reach $350K:https://t.co/t3JUVq2Ahv https://t.co/s9hLCPJtFz pic.twitter.com/88r2EXpMcD
— Ron T. Kim (@rontkim) April 27, 2021

The attack on Ma was widely condemned in light of the spate of other crimes targeting Asians in New York City, including the beating of a 65-year-old Filipino woman in Hell's Kitchen last month.

Tuesday afternoon, elected officials gathered in East Harlem to stand in solidarity with Ma's family and call for an end to "Asian hate."

It was not the first such event in Harlem in recent weeks: on April 14, before the attack on Ma, clergy and other neighborhood leaders rallied in Harlem in an event that doubled as a celebration of Korean-American restaurateur Betty Park and as a call for racial unity.

The disconcerting rise of Anti-Asian violence is an attack on the values of our nation
Thank you @rontkim for your partnership and leadership. Thank you @RepEspaillat @NYSenBenjamin @galeabrewer and @DianaAyalaNYC for standing in solidarity with Yao Pan Ma’s family #StopAsianHate pic.twitter.com/7jcjr3gOIg
— Robert J. Rodriguez (@_rjayrodriguez) April 27, 2021

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).

East Harlem Assemblymember Robert Rodriguez condemned the attack on Monday, and was planning a press conference calling for help finding the assailant before Tuesday's arrest was announced.

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

Related coverage:

• After Asian Man's Beating In Harlem, Search For Suspect Continues
• Asian Man Attacked In Harlem; NYPD Seeks Suspect Caught On Video