2 Suspects Aged 11 and 17 Arrested in Assault and Robbery of 80-Year-Old Asian Man

Video released by police showed the assault and robbery of an 80-year-old Asian man knocked to the ground in San Leandro, Calif., on May 8, 2021. San Leandro Police Department

Authorities in Northern California arrested an 11-year-old and a 17-year-old Wednesday in connection to an assault and robbery of an elderly Asian man.

The incident was captured on video over the past weekend. The San Leandro Police Department on Monday released footage showing an 80-year-old man being knocked to the ground at around 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The two suspects, who appear to be black, demanded that the unnamed victim give them his wallet. He screamed for help, and they stole his Fitbit wristband and fled in a blue Subaru sedan, according to police.

The police department said Wednesday that the two suspects, who weren’t identified, were arrested at 1:50 p.m. that day. The 11-year-old was driving a vehicle that was stolen after a carjacking in Oakland on Monday, the police department said in a statement.

Officials believe that the same children robbed a 19-year-old Hispanic woman of her purse in San Leandro on Saturday.

“We are thankful that we were able to capture these juveniles safely and expeditiously,” said police spokesman Ali Khan, adding that the two suspects are being investigated in other crimes in the area.

In a previous statement, Khan said there’s no evidence that the attack is a hate crime.

“In March, the San Leandro Police Department conducted a victim demographic study, where violent crime statistics were compared from 2019 to 2020. SLPD discovered an increase of 283 percent in crimes against our Asian community members. Although at this present moment, there is no indication the elderly victim was targeted due to his race, San Leandro Detectives are pursuing all avenues of investigative leads,” he said.

San Leandro, which is south of Oakland, is located in the San Francisco Bay Area.