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A 67-year-old woman was on her way home in Yonkers, New York — a city a few kilometres north of Manhattan — at just past 6pm on a Friday night when a man called out a racist and misogynistic slur at her.
After she ignored him and made her way into her building with her shopping cart, the man brutally attacked her, raining nonstop blows on her for more than 90 seconds.
A 42-year-old man — identified as Tammel Esco — has been arrested and charged with attempted murder and assault, both as hate crimes.
Brutally attacked elderly woman
According to the City of Yonkers Police Department, investigations showed that the 67-year-old woman, who has not been named, was returning home just after 6pm on Mar. 11 when she saw Esco in front of the building.
As she walked by him, Esco called her an "Asian b***h".
The elderly woman ignored this slur and entered the foyer of her building, getting out her keys to unlock the second set of doors.
At this moment, Esco entered the foyer and, without warning, punched the woman in the head with great force, knocking her to the ground and into a corner.
Security camera footage shows Esco standing over the woman, bent over and punching her repeatedly in the head and face with both of his fists more than 125 times.
As Esco punched her, the woman's right arm could be seen flailing at some moments, but she was unable to defend herself.
Once he finished punching her — more than a full minute later — he took his left foot and stomped on her seven times.
He then leaned his head back, gathered his saliva in his mouth, and spat on her.
Esco finally walked away, leaving bloody footprints in the foyer, as the woman was left writhing in pain on the ground.
Woman is in stable condition and recovering
When the police arrived at around 6:11pm, the woman was found bleeding at the scene.
She was then transported to a local trauma centre.
As a result of the beating, the woman suffered multiple contusions and lacerations to her head and face, facial bone fractures, and bleeding on the brain, the Yonkers Police Department reported.
As of Mar. 14, she was reported to be listed in stable condition and recovering in the hospital.
Esco was outside of the building and arrested without incident, police said.
Yonkers mayor Mike Spano decried the crime, saying that hate crimes are "beyond intolerable" in Yonkers. He added that he expects Esco to be "charged to the fullest extent of the law for his heinous actions".
Yonkers police commissioner John J. Mueller called the attack "one of the most appalling attacks I have ever seen".
"To beat a helpless woman is despicable and targeting her because of her race makes it more so."
Esco's next court date is scheduled for Mar. 25.
Lived in same building, had several past felony charges
The New York Times (NYT) reported that he is being held without bail at Westchester County jail, and that he had 14 previous arrests, of which half were on felony charges.
In 2011, he was convicted of assault and sentenced to slightly more than three years in prison. He was released on parole after about two and a half years in October 2013, according to NYT, citing state prison records.
ABC7 and NBC New York both reported that Esco lived in the same building as the elderly woman.
Another tenant in the building told reporters that Esco had previously "stalked and threw [the tenant's grandaughter] through that window over there", ABC7 reported.
Other cases of Anti-Asian violence:
Top photo via Yonkers Police Department.