New York: A man was charged with attempted murder in what police have described as a “brutal hate crime” against an Asian woman in New York state last week, with video of the incident showing the woman being punched 125 times.
Tammel Esco, 42, was arrested and accused of calling a 67-year-old woman an “Asian b—-,” following her into a building and severely beating her Friday in Yonkers, just north of New York City.
The victim ignored the comment, went into the vestibule of the building and tried to open the second door to the lobby. Esco approached her from behind, punched her head, knocked her to the floor, stood over her and punched her in the head and face repeatedly. He also stomped on her seven times and spat on her, police said.
The victim, who was not identified, suffered multiple contusions and lacerations to her head and face and bleeding on the brain. Admitted to the hospital, she was listed in stable condition.
A witness said she called 911.
“I started knocking on the door, and when I did that it caught his attention, and that’s when he got off of her,” Yvette Crespo told NBC New York. “He went out that door, went to the corner [and] put his hands up.”
Esco was detained shortly thereafter when officers saw him still outside the building. Yonkers police announced the arrest and released a security video from the building’s vestibule area Monday.
The video shows the woman was trying to open the second door into the lobby when she was hit on the head from behind and fell to the ground.
Video shows she was punched 125 times, stomped on seven more times and spat on.
“This is 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,” Yonkers Police Commissioner John J. Mueller said in a statement.
The woman, who was not publicly identified, is stable and recovering in a hospital, police said. She suffered facial bone fractures and bleeding on the brain.
Esco was charged with attempted murder as a hate crime and one count of assault as a hate crime. He was arraigned Saturday and remained in custody at the Westchester County Jail on Monday, according to inmate records.
He is being represented by the Westchester Legal Aid Society, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano called hate crimes “intolerable.”
“I expect the suspect to be charged to the fullest extent of the law for his heinous actions,” Spano said. “I continue to keep the victim and her family in our thoughts and prayers.”