Hate crime charged in attack on Chinese immigrant in NYC

NEW YORK (AP) — A man accused of brutally assaulting a Chinese immigrant on a Manhattan street, leaving him in a coma, has been arraigned on hate crime charges.

Jarrod Powell was arrested Tuesday and charged with attempted murder and assault as a hate crime in the attack Friday on 61-year-old Yao Pan Ma.

Powell, 49, didn’t post bail at the late night arraignment and was ordered jailed at the city’s Rikers Island jail complex. He is due back in court May 3.

The Legal Aid Society, which is representing Powell, declined comment.

Prosecutors say Powell attacked Ma from behind as Ma was collecting cans in East Harlem, knocking him to the ground and kicking and stomping his head.

A police detective said in a criminal complaint that Powell admitted attacking an Asian man at the approximate time and location of the attack on Ma, stating he did so because the man had robbed him the day before.