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Suspect in latest Oakland attack of Asian-American victim ID'd

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Updated  March 10, 2021 7:16pm PST
Crime and Public Safety
KTVU FOX 2

Suspect in latest Oakland attack of elderly Asian victim ID’d

A man arrested in the robbery of a 75-year-old Oakland man who is now brain-dead is a parolee with an extensive criminal history, KTVU has learned.

OAKLAND, Calif. - A man arrested in the robbery of a 75-year-old Oakland man who is now brain-dead is a parolee with an extensive criminal history, KTVU has learned.

Teaunte Bailey, 26, was arrested by Oakland police in connection with the attack on a man of Asian descent in the Adams Point neighborhood. Bailey has numerous arrests or convictions for assault and battery, among other crimes, records show.

It's the latest crime against a member of the Asian American community in the Bay Area.  But it's too early to determine whether it was also a hate crime.

"What people have to do is not jump to conclusions," said KTVU legal analyst Michael Cardoza.

In order to show it was a hate crime, prosecutors have to prove the suspect was motivated by anger over the victim's race, religion, gender or disability," Cardoza said.

Cardoza said if hate crime enhancements are lodged in a serious case, "it adds three years to whatever the punishment is for the underlying felonies."

SEE ALSO: Anti-Asian American hate crimes skyrocket 149% between 2019-2020

And if hate crimes aren't charged, "the person's not going to walk away from committing the crime, they're just not going to get that added punishment," Cardoza said.

In a separate case, Yahya Muslim was charged by Alameda County prosecutors with shoving several people to the ground in Oakland's Chinatown. One of his alleged victims was a 91-year-old man, who is of Latino descent. The others are Asian.

Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods has said there's no evidence Muslim committed any hate crimes. Woods, the first Black public defender in the county, said the case shouldn't be used to pit "minority against minority."

But Karen Inman was charged with a hate crime for allegedly spitting on an Asian American victim in Mountain View. Santa Clara County prosecutors say she used an ethnic slur and told the victim to "go back to where you came from."

"That's the type of proof you need to prove in front of a jury that a person committed a hate crime," Cardoza said.