© Dia Dipasupil/Getty ImagesA woman holds a sign that reads "love our people like u love our food" at the End The Violence Towards Asians rally in Washington Square Park on February 20, 2021 in New York City. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, violence towards Asian Americans has increased at a much higher rate than previous years. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) reported a 1,900% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020. Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
- A 75-year-old Asian-American man was attacked and robbed in Oakland on Tuesday.
- Representatives from Oakland's Chinatown said the attack left the man brain dead.
- A suspect has been arrested in the case but has not yet been identified.
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A 75-year-old Asian-American man was critically injured in an assault and robbery in Oakland, California, on Tuesday, in an attack that left him brain dead, an official from the city's Chinatown community told KPIX.
Police announced an arrest in connection with the attack on Tuesday night, though neither the victim nor the person arrested has been publicly named.
In a statement sent to Insider, Oakland Police said the incident happened in the city's Adams Point neighborhood just before 7 a.m. on Tuesday.
Police said an "altercation ensued" during the robbery, and the victim was taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.
Representatives from Chinatown told KPIX that the man was shoved during the robbery and sustained life-threatening injuries that have left him brain dead.
Neighbors told KPIX that the victim was taking his routine morning walk when he was attacked.
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne L. Armstrong said in a statement shared with Insider that he was "saddened to hear of yet another violent attack on the elders" in the community.
"The trauma this causes has a ripple effect, on the victim, their family, and the entire community," Armstrong said. "My officers are dedicated to bringing those involved in this senseless crime and all crimes to justice."
Incidents of racism, bias, and intolerance against Asian Americans have skyrocketed across the United States since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Accounts of hate tracked by the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council, an Asian advocacy group, range from racial slurs to people getting punched or slashed in the face.
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley told CBS News that Oakland Police recorded 18 crimes against Asian-Americans in neighborhoods around Chinatown in February.
Across the bay in San Francisco, an 84-year-old man from Thailand recently died after being knocked to the ground in an attack.
Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce President Carl Chan is calling for more patrols to protect people from violence.
"We're so hoping that this kind of crimes and attack don't happen again," he told CBS News. "Not only to the Asian community. We just don't want that to happen to anyone at all."
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