Two elderly Asians were assaulted and robbed in Quincy, Massachusetts last week.
The attacks, which occurred on separate occasions, took place near North Quincy MBTA subway station on West Squantum Street on Feb. 18.
The first victim was a 69-year-old man who was on his way to work at around 4:45 a.m. The suspect allegedly attacked and stole the man’s lunch box.
The victim remains at a hospital after sustaining neck fractures, according to the Quincy police.
The second victim was a 55-year-old woman heading home at around 9:55 p.m. The suspect allegedly took her shoulder bag, but she was not injured.
Two witnesses managed to film the suspect and retrieve the woman’s bag.
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“70-80-year-old people are just getting assaulted for no reason,” Jeffrey Salzman, who lives in the area of the attacks, told Boston 25 News.
Quincy police suspect the same man is responsible for both attacks. They do not believe the incidents are hate crimes.
However, members of local Asian American communities think otherwise.
“I think the recent news about the two robberies and attacks on two older Asians is definitely worrisome,” Ben Hires of the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center told NBC10 Boston. “The community has — a few people have been reaching out.”
Police are currently looking for the suspect describing them as a white male.
“While we can not say for sure that these robberies are related, both occurred within close proximity of each other and both victims described the suspect as a white male,” police said in a Facebook post.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective Williams Monteith at [email protected] or (617) 745-5767.
Do you have a hate incident to report? Help us document the recent rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans by going to STOP AAPI HATE to report an incident. Please stay safe out there.
Feature Image Screenshots via Quincy Police Department
