(CNN) — Police are investigating after several Asian women were punched or hurt in separate attacks in the span of about two hours over the weekend, the New York Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force said.
Authorities have released surveillance video showing a man they are looking to identify in connection with a series of assaults that took place on Sunday. The man was wearing a light blue T-shirt, dark colored pants, dark colored shoes and a multicolored backpack.
Police said the women were attacked without provocation in seven separate incidents and there was no prior interaction between the victims and the assailant.
The attacks took place at different locations from Midtown to the Nolita neighborhood approximately between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, the NYPD said.
Police say the first victim, a 57-year-old Asian woman, was attacked near Madison Avenue and East 30th street. A man struck her in the face before fleeing north toward 31st street, police said.
The victim sought medical treatment at a nearby hospital for a cut to her lip and swelling to her face.
About 10 minutes later, police received another call about an assault near Fifth Avenue and East 30th street. In this incident, the man punched a 25-year-old Asian woman in the face and the back of the arm before running off, police said.
Roughly five minutes later, police say a man punched a 21-year-old Asian woman in the face near Park Avenue South and East 23rd Street. The victim suffered a laceration and swelling to the mouth and was transported to an area hospital for treatment, police said.
The fourth assault took place just before 7 p.m. when a 25-year-old Asian woman was punched in the face in the Union Square area near Irving Place and East 17th street, police said. The victim suffered a laceration to her face and a swollen lip but did not require immediate medical treatment.
About 15 minutes later, a 19-year-old Asian woman was approached by a man who elbowed her in the face in the vicinity of Union Square East and East 17th street, police said. The man took off in an unknown direction.
The sixth and seventh attacks occurred in the Lower East Side. A man elbowed a 25-year-old Asian woman near East Houston and Mott Street, police say.
About an hour later, a man approached a 20-year-old Asian woman and shoved her to the ground before fleeing feeling westbound on foot, according to police.
Assaults on Asian women have been reported for months in New York and some have turned deadly. Earlier this week, a woman who was attacked last year in Queens by a man with a rock died, her family said.
In November, GuiYing Ma, 61, was sweeping the sidewalk of an empty property in Jackson Heights when a man allegedly struck her in the head repeatedly with a large rock, injuring her face and head, police said at the time.
The NYPD created an Asian Hate Crime Task Force after an increase in attacks on Asian Americans during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.