Suspect charged in assault of Asian man

A 49-year-old man was arrested and charged with attempted murder and a hate crime on Tuesday in an attack on a 61-year-old Chinese immigrant in Manhattan who has since been in a coma, police said.

Jarrod Powell of New York was taken into custody on Monday, thanks to tips from the community who identified him as the suspect, police said. Detectives were told Powell was seen at a homeless shelter near where the attack unfolded in East Harlem, and they made the arrest on Monday.

Police initially said they had charged Powell with two counts of assault, but they upgraded the charges on Tuesday afternoon to attempted murder and assault as a hate crime.

The victim, Yao Pan Ma, was pushing a grocery cart full of bottles and cans on Friday night at Third Avenue and East 125th Street when he was attacked from behind and collapsed onto the sidewalk, police said.

A video released by the New York Police Department showed Ma's attacker stomping on his head and kicking him numerous times in the face before running away.

Ma and his wife immigrated to New York two years ago from South China's Guangdong province and moved to Harlem after their Chinatown apartment burned down.

In September, Ma, who had worked as a pastry chef in China, lost his job at a Chinese restaurant as the industry was decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Collecting bottles and cans was how he helped support his family.

Ma was rushed to Harlem Hospital in critical condition. He is in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator, his wife, Baozhen Chen, told news outlets. He has suffered a cerebral contusion and facial fractures.

Violent arrest record

The ABC-TV News affiliate in New York City reported on Tuesday that Powell is homeless and has a lengthy, violent arrest record.

The report said that on Jan 25,1998, he kidnapped a 23-year-old woman on Staten Island and sexually assaulted her.

He was charged with kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, sexual misconduct and assault. He also has been arrested for fare evasion on the subway eight times from 2002 to 2004.

In February 2006, he was charged with assault at the Port Authority Bus Terminal twice. In July 2006,Powell assaulted a fellow inmate with a food tray at the Rikers Island jail facility and then punched the victim, the ABC report said.

Several GoFundMe accounts have been set up for Ma, two of which raised more than $550,000 as of 8 pm on Tuesday local time.

Political leaders and community advocates gathered on Tuesday afternoon to denounce hate and violence and called for justice for Ma.