A homeless man named Alexander Wright was arrested on May 10 for multiple assaults on the Upper East Side, ABC 7 reports. He first threw an object through the window of Judson Realty at 1065 Madison Avenue, between 80th and 81st Streets. He then, within 30 minutes, assaulted a man who was with his family on 72nd and Madison Avenue, scratching his left eye.
Wright, 48 was charged and arrested for the May 10 attacks, but he struck again on Monday, May 31 – this time down in Chinatown, where he punched an unsuspecting 55 year old woman outside of a restaurant Kong Sihk Tong, located at 65 Bayard Street, ABC 7 reports.
New York State Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou tweeted a video of the incident.
This was just sent to me from my constituent. This just happened in my district in Chinatown. He has been arrested and our precinct is investigating. pic.twitter.com/sxNfCbrlza
— Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) May 31, 2021
Wright’s Chinatown attack led to another arrest and new charges which included assault as a hate crime and possession of a controlled substance; officers found K2 on him when he was arrested, CBS New York reports.
Mayor Bill de Blasio says he hasn’t seen the video but he “… Certainly [is] deeply concerned. We had a spate of horrible attacks against Asian Americans. They are unacceptable. We have encouraged everyone to come forward. We’ve got to stop Asian hate, that’s the bottom line. We have a very strong Asian Crime Task Force in the NYPD, which is doing really powerful work, including undercover work, which has captured several assailants.”
In a statement about the incident, NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said “What’s the common denominator? People that are arrested, multiple, multiple, multiple times and released. Mental illness is woven into this, potentially. We have to do better. And we are arresting somebody for pushing a woman down the stairs, and then we release them back into the streets. I mean, this is craziness.”
