Elderly man assaulted in what VPD describes as racially-motivated incident
Posted April 22, 2020 11:52 am.
Last Updated April 22, 2020 5:00 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Police in Vancouver are seeing an uptick in anti-Asian and racially-motivated attacks, and an elderly man being assaulted recently is another prime example.
The VPD says a 92-year-old man with severe dementia was inside a convenience store along Nanaimo Street and East 1st Avenue on March 13 when someone yelled racist remarks at him, including comments about COVID-19.
Once outside, police say the suspect shoved the senior, causing him to fall down and hit his head. The suspect was gone by the time police arrived, but officers are hoping someone might recognize him.
“Everything about this assault and the behaviour of the suspect is despicable,” Constable Tania Visintin says in a release. “As a police department, we do not tolerate incidents motivated by bias, prejudice, or hate. It’s even more disturbing considering the victim’s age.”
In recent weeks, the VPD says it is seeing more cases like this — 11 hate crimes were reported in March, with almost half of them reported as anti-Asian.
“We know that hate crimes and hate-motivated incidents are generally underreported. We believe the increase in March is indicative of a larger issue,” adds Visintin. “We are making a plea to victims or people who witness hate crimes to please come forward and report the incidents to police so they can be investigated.”
So far, there have been a total of nine hate crimes like this reported this year.
The suspect police are searching for in connection with the March 13 assault is described as a white man in his 50s. He is about six feet tall with a heavy build. The man has dark, short hair, and is balding on top.
At the time of the assault, he was wearing a grey button-up shirt over a black t-shirt that had a white skull on the front. Along with black pants and running shoes, he was also wearing a gold bracelet, gold necklace, and several gold rings.
Contact the VPD at 604.717.2763 or Crime Stoppers at 1.800.222.8477 with any information.
