Asian man beaten, told to ‘go back to your country’ in hate crime, CA police say

A 29-year-old man faces charges that he beat an Asian man walking in a Sunnyvale park while telling him to “go back to your country,” California police reported.

Police responded to the attack at Lakewood Park just before 11 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4, a Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety news release said.

An older Asian man told police that another man confronted him as he exercised in the park, punching him six times in the face, police said. He did not require medical attention.

During the assault, he dropped his phone, which his attacker picked up, police said. The suspect ran away from the park, but police found him a short distance away.

He faces charges including robbery, battery, elder abuse and hate crimes, the release said.

“Hate is abhorrent. It has no place in a civil society and will not be tolerated,” Chief Phan S. Ngo said in the release.

Police ask that anyone with information call 408-730-7110.

Sunnyvale is a city of 156,000 people about 10 miles west of San Jose.

This story was originally published December 8, 2022 at 2:15 PM with the headline "Asian man beaten, told to ‘go back to your country’ in hate crime, CA police say."