Serial offender who punched Asian senior over 125 times in New York indicted on hate crime charges

The New York man who was arrested for allegedly punching a 67-year-old Filipino American woman in March has been indicted on multiple hate crime charges.

Tammel Esco, 42, was arraigned on Tuesday and held without bail, the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office announced on Wednesday.

Esco was indicted on multiple violent felony charges, including attempted second-degree murder as a hate crime and assault as a hate crime.

He was arrested shortly after the March 11 brutal attack on the 67-year-old Filipino woman in the lobby of her apartment building on Riverdale Avenue in Yonkers, New York.

Esco, who had 14 prior arrests and was convicted of assault in 2011, called the woman an “Asian bitch” and followed her into her building, according to the police.

The attack, which was caught on surveillance footage, showed Esco punching the victim’s head and face over 125 times, stomping on her body seven times and spitting on her.

The victim suffered brain bleeding, facial fractures and lacerations to her head and face. The attack previously made national headlines and prompted local leaders and advocates to call for New York’s Legislature to increase the state budget in support of local Asian American communities.

According to Stop AAPI Hate’s latest report, there have been nearly 11,500 hate incidents reported against Asian Americans across the United States between March 19, 2020 and March 31, 2022. California, which is home to the largest population of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S., had the highest number of reported incidents at 4,333, followed by New York at 1,840 and Washington at 556.

Featured Image via Yonkers Police Department

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