Ex-con charged with murder in attack on 75-year-old Asian American man in Oakland
OAKLAND — An ex-convict was charged with murder Thursday in the death of a 75-year-old Asian American man prosecutors say was shoved to the ground during a strong-arm robbery in Oakland.
Teaunte Bailey, 26, of Oakland, was charged with the death of Pak Ho, who suffered a brain injury in Tuesday’s robbery and died Thursday.
Bailey also was charged in connection with another robbery, according to the Alameda County district attorney’s office.
It wasn’t immediately known whether Bailey had an attorney who could speak for him.
Ho was taking his morning walk near his Adams Point home when he was shoved to the ground, struck his head on the pavement and suffered brain damage, the district attorney’s office said.
Immigration helped make Asians the fastest-growing minority group in America. But the volatility of the issue has fueled a rise in xenophobia and hate.
Bailey was arrested later that day after fleeing in a car, prosecutors said.
Bailey has several convictions for assault, burglary and parole violations, and at the time of the attack he was on probation following a conviction for another strong-arm robbery, authorities said.
The murder charge carries allegations of special circumstances, including crimes against elders.
Bailey also is charged with robbery and assault stemming from a Feb. 19 attack in Oakland during a break-in at a senior living apartment building where a 72-year-old man was robbed of his phone and other items, authorities said.
The deadly attack comes at a time of increasing assaults against Asian Americans. A woman accused of spitting on an Asian American man and yelling an ethnic slur as he dined outdoors in Silicon Valley was charged earlier this week with a misdemeanor hate crime and battery.
Oakland’s Chinatown has been hit with a string of attacks and thefts in the past few months that have left the community on edge.
In Southern California, a 51-year-old elementary school teacher’s aide was beaten with his own cane at a Rosemead bus stop last month, causing him to lose part of a finger. And in Orange County, neighbors in a Ladera Ranch subdivision have been taking turns watching over an Asian family’s home after repeated harassment.
Times staff writers Jennifer Lu, Hannah Fry, Sarah Parvini and Matthew Ormseth contributed to this report.
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