Brazen attack on Asian grandma has family afraid to leave home
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Oakland, California (KPIX) — A brazen attack on an elderly woman in broad daylight is just one in a series of recent robberies and unprovoked assaults, particularly against Asians in Oakland and San Francisco.
New video shows a 71-year-old grandmother walking across the sidewalk when two suspects suddenly approach. They had hopped out of a car at the end of the block just moments earlier.
One suspect can be seen knocking her to the ground before yanking her purse so hard the strap breaks off. The victim’s son tries to run after the robbers, but returns to help his mother.
Another camera shows a different angle of the same attack on 6th Avenue and International Boulevard. It happened on February 3 around 11 am.
“Just watching everything on social media and it’s happening really close to home and stuff too, so I called her right away and I said make sure you don’t go out, make sure you don’t do anything, don’t wear your bags or whatever,” said the victim’s granddaughter, who wished to remain anonymous.
She said she had warned her grandmother about the rise in attacks against Asian seniors.
The victim had just left the bank. Luckily, the suspects didn’t get away with her cash, which was in her pocket. She is still bruised and has body aches.
“I don’t want to go out the house, we try to go get food, I don’t want to go by myself at all,” said the granddaughter.
This video follows a disturbing string of assaults caught on camera.
One of them eventually killed 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee of San Francisco.
Oakland Police arrested the man who shoved a 91-year-old and attacked two others in Oakland’s Chinatown.
28-year-old Yahya Muslim has been in custody since February 1 for an unrelated criminal case.
Concern over this pattern of violence has spread well beyond the Bay Area.
CBS White House correspondent Weijia Jiang asked what President Biden plans to do about the attacks, beyond his executive order denouncing anti-Asian racism on Monday.
“I’m not aware that he’s seen the videos, but he is concerned about the discrimination against, the actions against the Asian American community, which is why he signed the executive order, and why he’s been outspoken,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
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