Last night, Police took three teenage suspects into custody in connection with the beatings of five women in separate incidents on the Lower East Side during the past two weeks. The suspects were all charged with assault as a hate crime. There are two girls, 12 and 15 years old, and a 15 year old boy. The teens were accompanied to the police precinct by their parents. Police are looking for two more suspects.
Yesterday afternoon, elected officials gathered at City Hall for a news conference, urging anyone with information about the attacks to come forward. There’s conflicting information whether the suspects uttered racial slurs. The Hate Crimes Unit was called in because the women were not robbed – they appeared to have been selected at random. The only common thread: they were all Asian women over the age of 50.
