Suspect arrested in attack on 91-year-old in Oakland's Chinatown, police say
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Oakland police announced Monday that a suspect has been arrested and charged in a brazen, violent attack on a 91-year-old man caught on camera in Chinatown.
Police say they believe the suspect in the incident also attacked a 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman that same day.
RELATED: 70-year-old Oakland woman seen attacked, robbed by 2 men after returning from bank
The announcement came as the newly sworn in Oakland Chief of Police stood alongside Alameda County D.A. Nancy O'Malley.
"We are filing charges against a suspect identified as Yahya Muslim. We have charged him with three counts of assault that involve three separate victims," O'Malley said.
Investigators say Muslim is in custody on an unrelated criminal case and was booked on Monday, Feb. 1.
RELATED: Shocking video shows 91-year-old man senselessly pushed to ground in Oakland's Chinatown
Muslim is also facing charges of inflicting great bodily injury and committing a crime against an elderly person. The DA says he has two prior felony assault convictions. The police officers who tracked down the suspect were also applauded.
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong acknowledged, "We recognize some in our community come to Chinatown to target people. We know they target our elderly. They come because they believe our community won't report it to police. We are excited we have already transitioned into new strategies to make Chinatown a safer community."
Chief Armstrong also acknowledged, "It's not just Chinatown."
"The violence in this community is impacting every neighborhood, so we all need to band together to take a stand and say this violence in unacceptable," Armstrong said, continuing, "But today, we're sending a message to those that commit crime in this city that we will pursue you and we will arrest you and it's not acceptable for things like this to happen in our community."
RELATED: Suspect arrested in attack on 91-year-old in Oakland's Chinatown, police say
The new chief promised additional resources will be available to residents reporting crimes. Two Asian American actors who put up reward money described their alarm.
Daniel Wu, who grew up in Orinda said, "Racist rhetoric from the pandemic have targeted us as being the reason for coronavirus. And so Asians across-the-board have been targeted, being pushed, attacked, spat on. Outside of San Francisco, in Los Angeles and in New York, these incidents are happening all over the country."
Wu and Daniel Dae Kim both offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect.
