NEW YORK — A man was arrested Tuesday in an assault on a Chinese immigrant who was kicked repeatedly in the head in East Harlem, police said.
Jarrod Powell was charged with two counts of felony assault in the attack Friday on 61-year-old Yao Pan Ma, police said. It wasn’t clear if Powell, 49, had an attorney who could comment on the charges.
Ma was collecting cans when he was attacked from behind, knocked to the ground and kicked in the head. He was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he remained in a coma on Tuesday, officials said.
49-year-old Jarrod Powell was arrested following tips from the community, identifying him as the suspect who stomped on 61-year-old Yao Pan Ma, seen at nearby shelter on E 125th St. Charged with 2 counts of felony assault. Arrested sometime yesterday. cc @Syissle #StopAsianHate https://t.co/xK69JcBm0w
— CeFaan Kim (@CeFaanKim) April 27, 2021
The police department’s hate crimes task force is investigating the attack, which appeared to be among the latest in a troubling rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in New York and around the country.
Surveillance video showing the attacker kicking Ma and stomping on him, echoing last month’s assault near Times Square in which a Filipina American woman was knocked to the ground and stomped on. A parolee convicted of killing his mother nearly two decades ago was arrested in that attack.
If you were as horrified as I was that this man had his head stomped on until he was in critical condition...this is his gofundme. https://t.co/48wp9R8ieh
— Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) April 26, 2021
The initial charges against Powell do not include assault as a hate crime, but a police spokesperson said the attack against Ma is still under investigation and the charges could be upgraded.
Elected officials and community advocates planned a news conference later Tuesday to announce the creation of a trust fund to assist Ma’s family.
