Filipina chef and son seriously hurt in Queens, NY hate attack

Cecille Lai suffered a concussion, scratches on her eye, and bruising on her body. Her son, Kyle, suffered a skull fracture and will need an MRI. SCREENGRAB

A Filipina chef and her son were injured after they were called “ugly Asians” and physically attacked by three people in Corona, Queens, New York.

Two of the attackers have been arrested for assault as a hate crime.

Cecille Lai, 44, and her son, Kyle, 24, on Thursday, March 2 came from a dim sum lunch and alighted from a lift to Junction Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue in Corona. She said the car behind them honked aggressively even though the traffic light was red.

Persons in honking car started yelling anti-Asian slurs directed at the Filipino mother and son. “They were saying, ‘ugly Asians,’ then next words were ‘(expletive) ugly Asians,'” Lai told WABC News. “Try to scream at us and taunt at us. Kept saying ugly Asians.”

A female passenger in the car then allegedly doused Lai with water. In response, Lai threw leftover dumplings at the woman.

Lai said the woman and two men got out of the car and started punching and kicking her and her son until she passed out.

A good Samaritan tried to stop the beating but was also hurt by the attackers. Lai suffered a concussion, scratches on her eye, and bruising on her body.

Her son suffered a skull fracture and will need an MRI to make sure there was no bleeding in his brain, WABC News reported.

She said the assailants also tried to hit her with their car and nearly hit a pedestrian at a crosswalk.

Police tracked down the assailants’ car and arrested Natalie Plaza, 18 and her boyfriend, Elijah Fernandez, 21. They face hate crime charges. The third attacker is still at large. Lai said she is traumatized and now afraid to go out on her own.