Oakland: Chinatown on edge over unprovoked attacks

Surveillance video captured a disturbing assault in which someone violently shoved a 91yearold man — sending him face first into the pavement — as he strolled in Oakland’s Chinatown in what merchants and residents said Thursday is part of a surge in assaults and robberies in the neighborhood.

The recent assaults — three of which police said were committed by the same person on the 800 block of Harrison Street on Jan. 31 — prompted a meeting Wednesday that included Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Oakland police and members of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce. The assault on the 91yearold man was one of those three.

Business owners in the Chinatown neighborhood have reported more than 20 unprovoked assaults and robberies in just the past few days, Carl Chan, the president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, told The Chronicle.

“We have quite a few incidents every single day,” Chan said. “I understand some business owners do not wish to talk about it — and I understand why — because they are so afraid that by saying that, customers may not want to come and patronize them.”

The suspect in three incidents on Sunday was seen on surveillance video violently pushing from behind the older adult on the 800 block of Harrison Street, and later went on to push a 60yearold man and 55yearold woman in the same manner on the same block, knocking the woman unconscious, Oakland police said. The 91yearoldman was taken to a local hospital for treatment on unspecified injuries, and the other man and woman were taken to the hospital for treatment, police said. Chan, who has served on the chamber for roughly 35 years and calls the Chinatown neighborhood his “second home,” said the wave of violent crime is “unheard of.” Chan said community members have seen “quite a few juveniles carrying guns, circling Chinatown,” and said many of the recent robberies have involved suspects brutally beating victims before robbing them of their possessions.

“So many people are afraid,” Chan said.

In Wednesday’s conference addressing the surge in violent assaults and robberies, Schaaf

“We have quite a few incidents every single day. I understand some business owners do not wish to talk about it.”

called the “intentional targeting of Asian merchants and residents” abhorrent.

“We will do everything within our power and resources to put an end to it,” Schaaf said at the news conference.

Anyone with information on the assaults may contact Oakland police’s Felony Assault unit at (510) 2383426. Crime Stoppers of Oakland is offering $2,500 for information leading to an arrest of the suspect for each victim for a total of $7,500 reward money, police said.

Tim Hussin / Special to The Chronicle 2015 Oakland’s Chinatown, shown in 2015, has been the site of several assaults in recent days, many thought to have been committed by the same person.