Suspect charged for violent hate attacks on 7 Asian women in NY

Steven Zajonc allegedly committed a series of unprovoked attacks on the Asian women victims on the east side of Manhattan. SCREENSHOT

NEW YORK – A suspect in the string of violent assaults that injured seven Asian women in late February was indicted on multiple hate crime charges, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced Monday, April 4.

Steven Zajonc, 28, is charged with six felony counts of third-degree assault as a hate crime and seven counts of second-degree aggravated harassment, a misdemeanor hate crime.

Zajonc on February 27 allegedly committed a series of unprovoked attacks on the Asian women victims on the east side of Manhattan within a three-hour span.

“These attacks on seven New York women, each fueled by anti-Asian hate, are yet another sobering reminder of the demonstrable fears AAPI communities, particularly AAPI women, in our City continue to face,” District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a news release.

The victims ranged in age from 19 to 57. Six of them were injured, with bleeding cuts and bruises to their faces, and one was knocked unconscious and later treated for a concussion, according to prosecutors.

The New York Police Department created an Asian Hate Crime Task Force, after hate crimes against Asians increased dramatically during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Police recorded 158 incidents of hate crimes against Asians between March 8, 2020, and December 29, 2021. One victim, a 61-year-old woman, died from her injuries four months after being attacked by a man with a rock.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office says it has 27 open cases related to anti-Asian crimes.