(CNN) — A man has been arrested in connection with the case of a 61-year-old Asian man who was attacked last week in New York, police said.
Jarrod Powell, 49, was detained early Tuesday morning and the NYPD recommends that he faces two counts of felony assault, the NYPD said. It’s unclear whether Powell has retained an attorney.
Police previously said the victim was approached from behind on an East Harlem corner Friday, struck in the back and, after he fell to the ground, kicked in the head multiple times.
The incident was being investigated as a possible hate crime, the NYPD said. CNN has reached out to the police department asking why hate crime charges were not pursued and whether its hate crimes task force is still investigating the case.
CNN has reached out to prosecutors for comment on what charges they are planning to pursue.
The victim, who was not named by police, was taken to a Harlem hospital with significant injuries.
Last week’s incident, which comes amid a surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans in New York City and across the nation, was captured on surveillance video.
The NYPD has deployed a number of undercover Asian officers on the streets in an attempt to stem the violence. Earlier this month, one of the officers arrested a woman yelling anti-Asian slurs at a Chinatown nail salon, according to city officials.
The NYPD has said its investigating more than 60 possible hate crimes against Asian Americans this year, and 42 incidents through the end of March have been classified as hate crimes.
Last week, the Senate voted 92-6 to advance a bill that would assign a Justice Department official to expedite reviews of potential Covid-19-related hate crimes and establish an online database.
The shootings of six Asian women in the Atlanta area last month drew attention to a spike in anti-Asian violence across the United States.
A survey by the Pew Research Group this week found that 32% of Asian adults fear someone might threaten or physically attack them — and 81% said violence against them is rising.
About 20% of the respondents said former President Donald Trump’s “rhetoric about China as the source of the pandemic” as well as his racist labeling of the coronavirus as the “kung flu” or “Chinese flu” has contributed to the mounting violence, according to the survey.
A report by Stop AAPI Hate cited nearly 3,800 “hate incidents” against Asian Americans from March to February, ranging from verbal harassment to assaults to workplace discrimination.
The group, which chronicles hate and harassment incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during the pandemic, said it has received 503 reports of anti-Asian hate and bias so far this year.
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