SANTA CLARA (CBS SF) — Two suspects have been charged in a hate crime spree involving dozens of purse snatches and robberies throughout the San Francisco Bay Area targeting Asian women, Santa Clara prosecutors announced Friday.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen said that 23-year-old Derje Blanks and 24-year-old Anthony Robinson would be arraigned on Friday and faced numerous charges with hate crime enhancements.
READ MORE: Highway 1 Cliff Plunge Victim Identified As Elderly San Francisco Man
Evidence has revealed that the defendants targeted the victims because they assumed the women – who were almost all of Asian descent – carried cash. There are numerous incidents where victims were pulled or wrestled to the ground during the robberies. Some victims were injured.
The crime spree includes more than 40 incidents throughout San Jose, San Pablo, Hayward, East Palo Alto, Newark, San Leandro, Fremont, Campbell, Dublin, and Milpitas, with crimes still being investigated by additional agencies.
“This dangerous criminal spree was solved thanks to the hard work of the San Jose Police Department,” Rosen said in a news release. “We will hold these defendants and anyone who worked with them fully accountable for their ignorant and destructive behavior.”
READ MORE: Grand Jury Indicts 2 Stockton Officers Fired for Beating Black Teen
Investigators said that beginning in late 2020, the crime spree included robberies and purse snatches that virtually all followed the same pattern.
According to the DA’s office, evidence showed the suspects targeted Asian women because they believed that Asian women don’t use banks. In some cases, the suspects used ethnic slurs to refer to their victims.
The defendants would follow the women in parking lots to their vehicles, wait until the victim was inside her car, and either smash a window or quickly open a door to steal a purse off the passenger seat, police said.
When the defendants were arrested last Friday, Blanks tried to flee in his car and crashed into an unmarked police vehicle. He then fled on foot and was detained.
MORE NEWS: FDA Advisers Endorse Pfizer Booster Shots for Elderly, High-Risk Americans
Robinson then got into the driver’s seat, tried to flee and crashed into a vehicle, with the collision severely injuring a two-year-old passenger.