Man arrested for attacking two Asian women in their 60s with a cinder block at liquor store

Attacks against Asian Americans have surged 169 per cent during first quarter of 2021 compared to same period last year, study says

A man has been arrested after he was caught on security camera footage brutally beating two Asian women with a cinder block as they were trying to close up a liquor store in Baltimore, Maryland.

Daryl Doles, 50, has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, according to police. It was not specified whether the attack is being treated as a hate crime.

The employees, two women aged 66 and 67, were attacked just after midnight on Tuesday. The footage from the security camera inside the store shows the man breaking into the store as one of the women attempts to close the door.

A man who has not been identified can be seen leaving the store as Mr Doles and one of the women wrestle on the shop floor.

In the video, Mr Doles holds down one of the women and strikes her multiple times with a cinder block. The second woman comes to the aid of her colleague before she too is attacked by Mr Doles. He hit both women in the head with the cinder block several times before the fight continued outside of the store.

Authorities said the man managed to leave the scene of the vicious attack before he was arrested. Police said the women were taken to hospital but that their injuries were not life-threatening. The women could later return home to recover from the ordeal.

The son of one of the women posted the video of the attack on YouTube. John Yun wrote in the video description that the women were his mom and aunt.

“My aunt got the worse of the attack with over 25 stitches on her head and black eyes,” Mr Yun stated, and added: “But we are relieved that both of their CT scans came back good and were discharged hours later.”

“I admire the bravery and courage of these two women and am incredibly proud of them. Their physical wounds will heal eventually, but the trauma from this attack will require more time. I am trying to raise some funds so they can relax and heal and without worrying about the burden of bills that will arise from this attack,” Mr Yun wrote.

A gofundme started by Mr Yun has raised more than $62.000, far more than the initial goal of $25.000. Mr Yun posted an image of the wounds sustained by his mom and aunt.

Two Asian women working at a liquor store in Baltimore sustained serious injuries after being attacked by a man with a cinder block. (John Yun/gofundme)

At a press conference on Tuesday, Maryland’s Republican governor Larry Hogan said: “It’s just another example of these violent outbursts and attacks on Asians all across the country.”

He added: “It was pretty hard to watch the two elderly women being smashed in the head with a brick.”

A new report released by the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University said late last month that hate crimes against Asian Americans had surged 169 per cent during the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same period last year.

Van Tran, an associate professor at the City University of New York, told NBC News that all kinds of crime have risen during the pandemic but the targeting of Asians has “exploded”.

“What is unfortunate here is the fact that much of that hate and racism are being targeted towards one very small community in terms of population size,” he said.