Police are searching for a man they say is responsible for seven separate attacks on Asian victims in the span of two hours in Manhattan.
Each of the attacks occurred between 6:30 p.m. and shortly after 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 27, from downtown to the Nolita neighborhood, according to police. The victims were all women, and in five of the attacks, the man allegedly punched the victim in the face.
The first victim, a 57-year-old woman, was attacked near Madison Avenue and East 30th Street, according to the police. The suspect walked up to her and punched her in the face without any prior provocation or interaction, then ran off, police said.
Ten minutes later, police said they received another call about an assault on an Asian woman near Fifth Avenue and St. East 30th. In that incident, the suspect attacked a 25-year-old Asian woman, hitting her in the face and the back of the arm, according to police.
The next attack, to which police received a call about five minutes later, occurred in the Flatiron district near Park Avenue South and East 23 Street, the police said. The suspect punched a 21-year-old woman in the face before moving to the Gramercy section to attack two more women.
A 25-year-old woman was punched in the face near Irving Place and East 17 Street, police said, minutes before they received a call around 7 p.m. about a 19-year-old woman being elbowed in the face near Union Square East and East 17 Street.
Police said the suspected attacker headed further south toward East Houston Street and Mott Street in Nolita, where he elbowed a 25-year-old victim in the mouth. In the final incident, just after 8:30 p.m., the suspect allegedly approached a 20-year-old woman on Broadway and East 8 Street in Greenwich Village and pushed her to the ground, without saying a word, according to police.
While some of the victims required hospitalization after being attacked, all are expected to recover. Each of the attacks was unprovoked and there was no exchange of words between the victims and the alleged attacker.
An investigation is ongoing.
If you have information, you can call the authorities at 1-888-57-PISTA.
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