75-year-old Asian woman beats her accused attacker with stick, California family says

The family of a 75-year-old Asian woman said she fought off an accused attacker on the street in San Francisco.

Xiao Zhen Xie told KPIX — through her daughter Dong-Mei Li interpreting from Chinese — that she was waiting at a traffic light when a man punched her in her left eye, leading her to defend herself with a stick.

“Very traumatized, very scared and this eye is still bleeding,” Li said, according to the station. “The right eye still cannot see anything and still bleeding and we have something to absorb the bleeding.”

Police said in a statement to McClatchy News that they responded to a report Wednesday of Xie and an 83-year-old Asian man being attacked by the same person.

According to police, a 39-year-old man got into a “physical altercation” around 30 minutes before he’s accused of assaulting the 83-year-old.

As the 39-year-old was trying to get away from a security guard, police said he assaulted Xie before her family says she fought back.

The 39-year-old was detained by the guard before officers arrived and taken to a hospital “for an unrelated, prior medical condition,” according to police. Xie and the 83-year-old man had non life-threatening injuries and were also transported to a hospital, authorities said.

“Investigators are working to determine if bias was a motivating factor in the incident,” police said in a statement to McClatchy News. Both attacks were unprovoked, police said

In a video posted on Twitter on Wednesday showing the aftermath of the attack, Xie is seen with an eye injury and holding an ice pack to her face. The accused attacker, whom police have not publicly identified, is seen with a bloodied face and handcuffed to a stretcher.

In the video, Xie is also crying and waving around what appears to be a wooden board as the stretcher is wheeled away.

The attack occurred a day after a series of shootings at massage parlors left eight people dead, including six Asian women.

A surge in attacks on Asian Americans has been reported across the country during the pandemic.

From March 19, 2020, to February 28, there have been 3,800 reports of anti-Asian attacks or racism nationwide, with Asian women making up 68% of those targeted, according to Stop AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islanders) Hate.

The Bay Area has also seen an increase of violence against Asian Americans, SFGate reported.

A 75-year-old Asian man in Oakland died last week after police said he was assaulted and robbed by a man with a history of “victimizing” older Asian Americans.

This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 10:56 AM with the headline "75-year-old Asian woman beats her accused attacker with stick, California family says."