On Saturday, a group of three teens attacked and robbed an 80-year-old man in the East Bay city of San Leandro, California, KNTV reports.
The victim, identified as Phil Rabago of San Leandro, sustained only minor injuries, and had his Fitbit watch stolen. As he was attacked, Rabago is heard yelling for help. The thieves attempted to take his wallet as well before a neighbor came outside and the suspects took off in a dark sedan.
"He said he was robbed for his watch, and they tried to take his wallet but luckily he wasn't seriously injured," an unnamed neighbor told KNTV.
As if hearing an 80-year old man cry out for help after getting knocked to the ground in San Leandro isn’t bad enough…
— Dion Lim (@DionLimTV) May 10, 2021
...the suspects are teens as young as 16 and you can hear one laughing loudly.
(1/3) #stopaapihate #aapi pic.twitter.com/dZHe5Op9DZ
"It's crazy to see kids that age doing that kind of stuff going down that road already," said the man who recorded the video from his home, choosing to be referred to as "Marcos" out of concern for safety.
The Rabago family said that in addition to a physical item being stolen, their peace of mind was stolen as well.
"Pay attention to my surroundings," said Rabago. "Yeah, normally that wasn't the case; I could walk freely down the street, not have a care. That is something I have to factor in when I go out."
"When something like this happens, we have to have a conversation we have to explain to our kids why people make certain choices and decisions and why we now have to be super alert on an evening walk as a family even," said Trang Le-Rabago.
This attack marks yet another instance in a dramatic increase on attacks in San Leandro, a city who's population in 36 percent Asian-American.
Lt. Ali Kahn of San Leandro Police told ABC 7 they were shocked when they got the results of a victim demographic study back.
"We were equally as shocked. From 2019 to 2020 we saw an almost 300% increase in crimes towards our Asian and Pacific Islander community members," said Kahn.
Despite being unsure just how many incidents were hate crimes or racially motivated, Kahn said "the numbers don't lie."
The department, in response, has increased patrol numbers and is tackling the challenge of dealing with repeat offenders who are minors recently released.
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