40-year-old Kevin Douglas was arrested over eight hours after the assault last November when he barged his way into a woman’s home in the Queens area of New York and punched her in the face in what police say was a random attack. The attack on the Thai woman comes amid a crime wave in New York and a sharp rise in attacks targeting Asian Americans in the United States and the Big Apple where such incidents were up five fold in 2021.
A 40-year-old African American man was charged before a Manhattan court in New York last Thursday with a vicious attack on a 23-year-old Thai woman in the city last year which was the subject of an appeal to the public for help. In the course of the attack, which left Bew Jirajariyawetch bloodied and bruised, it has now also been revealed that the young woman, who only emigrated to the US months before from Thailand, was also sexually assaulted by the perpetrator.
23-year-old Thai woman Bew Jirajariyawetch who emigrated to New York last year and who was the subject of a violent attack in November was praised this week by her lawyer after the man who attacked her was charged before the courts in relation to the incident.
Police in New York, last Thursday, charged a 40 year old African American man named Kevin Douglas in connection with the subway attack on November 22nd last on the young Thai model as she made her way home from a concert in the early hours of the morning.
He later appeared before the Supreme Court in the city, sitting in Manhattan.
Thai woman’s ordeal featured on the Crime Stoppers TV show where the public gets cash to solve crimes
In December last, a video of the attack was aired on the popular New York Crime Stoppers TV programme in an effort by police to track down the perpetrator.
Crime Stoppers is a TV programme offering cash rewards to members of the public for anonymous tips to the police which help to solve crimes in the city.
The horrific attack occurred at the Herald Square subway platform in Midtown Manhattan between Broadway, 34th street and sixth avenue.
Kevin Douglas, a prolific offender, was charged with second-degree robbery, third-degree robbery and second-degree assault according to the New York City Police Department (NYPD).
Attacker already being held in Rikers Prison when the appeal to the public was broadcast last December
The address that police recorded for the attacker was a Days Inn hotel near John F Kennedy International Airport in the city.
Mr Douglas was already in custody when the appeal to the public was broadcast last December concerning the attack the month previously
It appears that Mr Douglas was arrested on the same day of the vicious assault on Ms Bew in which he is also believed to have sexually assaulted the young woman by groping her genitalia in the course of the violence used on her.
According to the New York Post newspaper, Mr Douglas was arrested in the Jamaica area of New York in Queens just over eight and half hours later at 1 pm on November 22nd 2021 after he barged his way into a private home and punched a 34-year-old woman in the face in what police believe to have been a random assault.
New York is in the middle of a crime wave
The attack on the Thai woman is part of a disturbing trend in both New York and across the United States where Asian people, particularly women and the elderly, have been the subject of a spike in violence and physical assaults since the 2020 onset of the COVID-19 crisis.
The attack on the Thai woman in New York was accompanied by a fivefold increase in attacks perpetrated on Asian Americans in the city last year.
Among the victims across the United States was 84-year-old Thai grandfather Vicha Ratanapakdee who was barrelled down by a young African American man, Antoine Watson, in January 2021 as he went for an early morning walk in the Daly City area of San Francisco.
Sharp rise in attacks on Asian Americans linked by activist groups to racially divisive political rhetoric
The elderly man from southern Thailand had a daughter who married an American and had come to the United States to take care of his grandchildren but was planning to return to Thailand.
The trend has led to a movement by Asian American activist groups in the United States against racially motivated violence which they have linked with divisive rhetoric coming from both sides of the growing political divide in the country.
Bew attacked from behind and pulled across the rail platform in a chokehold and thrown to the ground
The attack on the Thai woman occurred at a deserted platform D at the station at 4.30 am with Mr Douglas attacking her suddenly from behind.
He threw Ms Bew to the ground after pulling her back across the platform in a chokehold and then punching her to the head to prise free her handbag.
In the course of the assault, as he struggled with the Thai woman who tried to put up a fight, the perpetrator also put his hands between the victim’s legs while she lay on the ground and struggled.
The video of the incident and an image of the attacker were shown on television as New York police appealed to the public for assistance last year.
Thai woman in New York appeals for tip-offs to police on a mugger who sexually assaulted her on a subway
As well as stills of the attacker including one where the top half of his face was visible, there were also images of Ms Bew’s face covered in blood and bruised after the violent onslaught which left her in tears.
Attack part of a 45% rise in crime last November in New York with a 141% surge in transit related crime
The terrifying attack left the distraught Thai woman with a burst blood vessel in her left eye as well as swelling and bruising to her face which was covered in bloodstains.
It comes amid a worrying spike in crime in New York in recent years with a 45% rise last November compared to the year before and a 141% jump in crime related to public transportation in the city.
Young woman expresses relief and says she looks forward to a fashion career in the city of her dreams
Last Saturday, Ms Bew, a professional model who moved to New York only last year from Thailand to study English and to pursue her dreams in life, expressed her relief that the man responsible for her ordeal has been charged and that he is in custody.
‘Nothing can change what happened to me but I am happy to know he can not do this to someone else,’ she declared.
It is understood the young woman now plans to pursue a career in the fashion world in the cosmopolitan city.
Praise for Bew from her lawyer who paid tribute to the city’s authorities in this case for looking beyond ‘illogical restraints’ in securing a prosecution
The Thai woman has received support, since the attack, from her New York-based lawyer, Eric Parnes, who has praised her bravery for highlighting the ordeal she went through to the public last December as ‘inspiring’ while also praising New York City authorities.
‘Although this took an incredible amount of pressure and time to lead to an arrest, it does show that when the police and prosecutors are allowed to do their job, without illogical restraints, people can have some sense of hope that things can be better,’ he said.
Perpetrator has a long rap sheet
The suspect Mr Douglas has a long criminal history having been so far arrested no less than 44 times by police since 1997.
His rap sheet is believed to include counts in relation to drug offences, assault, criminal possession of weapons, robbery and criminal tampering.
He is being held at Rikers Island Prison on the East River, the city’s main prison having appeared before Judge Curtis Farber last Thursday where bail linked with the current slew of charges was set at $75,000.
He is due again before the court on April 11th next.
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Further reading:
Murder charge for 19 year old who barrelled down elderly 84-year-old Thai man in San Francisco
UK beauty spot may have disguised the grim murder of a Thai bride from Udon Thani for over a decade
