Suspect arrested in attack on Asian American woman in NYC
NEW YORK — A parolee convicted of killing his mother nearly two decades ago was arrested on assault and hate crime charges in an attack on an Asian American woman in New York City, police said Wednesday.
Police said Brandon Elliot, 38, is the man seen on surveillance video kicking and stomping the woman near Times Square on Monday. The woman was attacked in front of an apartment building.
Two lobby workers witnessed the violence but no one intervened or called 911, police said. Their union said Wednesday they told a union representative that they waited until the attacker left because he had a knife. They then flagged down a police car.
Elliot lived at a hotel that serves as a homeless shelter a few blocks from the attack scene, police said. He was taken into custody at the hotel around midnight. Tips from the public led to his apprehension, police said.
Elliot was convicted of stabbing his mother to death in the Bronx in 2002, when he was 19. He was released from prison in 2019 and is on lifetime parole. The parole board had previously twice denied his release. His record also included an arrest for robbery in 2000.
“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,” Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a news conference Wednesday. “We need real opportunities. We need real safety nets.”
Elliot, who is Black, faces charges of assault and attempted assault as hate crimes. He made an appearance in court via video Wednesday night, and was remanded into custody, with the next court date scheduled for Monday.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said prosecutors will seek to have Elliot jailed without bail pending trial. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted, Mr. Vance said.
A law enforcement official identified the victim as 65year-old Vilma Kari. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity. Ms. Kari’s daughter told The New York Times that she emigrated from the Philippines several decades ago.
Ms. Kari, who was repeatedly kicked and stomped, suffered serious injuries including a fractured pelvis, the law enforcement official said. She was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday, a hospital spokesperson said.
Philippine Ambassador to the U. S. Jose Manuel Romualdez said the victim is Filipina American.
The country’s foreign secretary, Teodoro Locsin Jr., condemned the attack, writing on Twitter: “This is gravely noted and will influence Philippine foreign policy.” He didn’t elaborate how.
The Philippines and United States are longtime treaty allies, but Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte is a vocal critic of U.S. security policies and has moved to terminate a key agreement that allows largescale military exercises with U.S. forces in the Philippines.
Ms. Kari was walking to church when police say Elliot kicked her in the stomach, knocked her to the ground, stomped on her face, shouted anti-Asian slurs and told her, “You don’t belong here” before casually walking away as onlookers watched. Commissioner Shea called it a “completely unprovoked violent attack on an innocent, defenseless woman.”
Monday’s attack, among the latest in a national spike in anti-Asian hate crimes, drew widespread condemnation and concerns about the failure of bystanders to intervene. The surge in violence has been linked in part to misplaced blame for the coronavirus pandemic and former President Donald Trump’s use of terms like “Chinese virus.”
“This brave woman belongs here,” Mr. Vance said. “Asian American New Yorkers belong here. Everyone belongs here.”