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Questions raised why attack suspect was released
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea says he doesn't understand why Brandon Elliot was released and allowed to live in a hotel used as a homeless shelter.
NEW YORK - A homeless man who was out on parole for killing his mother has been arrested and charged with a hate crime in connection to a violent attack on a 65-year-old Asian American woman in Hell's Kitchen.
Brandon Elliot, 38, had been living at the Four Points by Sheraton hotel which serves as a homeless shelter. He was released from prison 16 months ago and was on lifetime parole for stabbing his mother to death in front of his five-year-old sister in 2002.
In a press conference Wednesday, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea expressed frustration with a lack of resources in the city's shelter system.
"For the life of me, I don’t understand why we are releasing or pushing people out of prison not to give them second chances, but to put them into homeless facilities or shelters — or in this case a hotel — and expect good outcomes," Shea said.
Elliot accused of mercilessly beating and stomping on a 65-year-old Asian woman while yelling racial slurs, telling the victim, "you don't belong here." He is charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime and one count of attempted assault as a hate crime.
"This brave woman belongs here. Asian American New Yorkers belong here. Everyone belongs here," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said at Wednesday's press conference.
The depravity of the attack seen by thousands in the now-viral video is only matched by the callousness of three men watching the beat down of a senior citizen and not intervening. One member of the building staff at 360 W 43rd St is even seen closing the door on the victim.
New extended surveillance footage show the three men watching through the closed door for nearly a minute longer before going outside. Their union, 32BJ, claims they flagged down a nearby officer, but Detective Michael Rodriguez says, "the patrol officers from that part of Manhattan... came upon the victim after she was assaulted." He also says no 911 calls were placed.
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Arrest in anti-Asian attack on 65-year-old woman
A man is being held without bail and facing hate crime charges after being arrested for a vicious attack on a Asian woman in Manhattan.
This attack is one of at least 33 anti- Asian hate crimes reported in New York City so far this year. Only 11 were reported to the NYPD last year. Several suspects are homeless men.
Police are also now searching for a man who attacked a 44-year-old Asian woman while she was with her children on a subway train near Times Square Wednesday afternoon. Sources tell FOX 5 NY that he yelled things like, "you brought the virus here... fix your face," and "go back to your country."