Asian delivery driver stabbed in the back in Brooklyn in latest possible hate crime
The panicked victim ran to look for attacker after finishing his food run
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
An Asian man delivering food by bicycle in New York was stabbed in the back by another cyclist in broad daylight, in an incident that police are investigating as the latest in a series of anti-Asian hate crimes.
The 53-year-old victim was knocked to the ground by the attack, but got back up and completed the delivery with a knife wound – only realising he had been stabbed when he arrived back at the restaurant.
The Asian man, whose identity is being withheld, was attacked on Sunday evening when he was running an order in Brooklyn and a hooded assailant pedalled up behind him, asking cryptically: “What happened?”
As the victim slowed down his bike and started to turn around, the green-clad attacker took a knife and stabbed him in the back, knocking him to the ground in the process, the video footage released by the New York Police Department shows.
The NYPD released the footage of the attack in Fulton Street, asking anyone with information to get in touch.
The police said on Monday that they were investigating the attack as a possible hate crime, reported the NY Daily News.
The victim was rushed to Jamaica Hospital in Queens where he is being treated for a non-life-threatening puncture wound in the back.
The manager of the Chinese food joint told the New York Post that the man got up after being knocked on the ground, dusted himself off and peddled away to deliver the food in his charge.
It was only when he returned and narrated the story to his colleague that he realised he was hurt and bleeding.
“He feels his back and says, ‘It’s a little wet,’” the manager said. “He looks at his hands, he sees the blood.”
Shocked to discover how badly he was attacked, the victim ran out of the food joint apparently to find his attacker. “He ran out to look for the man,” the manager recalled. “I say, ‘No, come back!’”
The manager said the delivery driver is “scared” and wants the NYPD to find his attacker quickly.
According to the latest NYPD statistics up to 31 May, incidents of hate crimes against Asian people in New York City this year are up 335 per cent from the same period last year. Overall, hate crimes have increased by 98 per cent this year.