Police investigate burglaries and robberies targeting Asian community
PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) Members of the Asian community in Northeast Philadelphia are on edge.
Police say there has been a series of almost 80 crimes against Asian Americans since January, including armed robberies and burglaries. The son of a man robbed at gunpoint in a home on Bridge Street Sunday night described the terrifying encounter.
"Pulled out a gun and slammed my dad against the wall and asked him for everything," he told FOX 29.
Ivan Zhou says his father will never forget last Sunday night when three men with guns trailed him into a home he owns on Bridge Street in the Northeast, threatened him at gunpoint and robbed him.
"They took his phone, wallet, car keys and left after that. They took the car," he explained.
The robbery is part of a series of gun point robberies and burglaries spread across Northeast Philly in recent months. Almost all of them targeting members of the Asian community.
Police say since January crimes against the Asian community in the Northeast have escalated. 38 burglaries, 13 gunpoint robberies and another 28 robberies by force.
Ivan Zhou says his family knows several recent victims of these crimes. His father is still shaken.
Investigators say they've been handing out flyers in neighborhoods where the crimes have been committed, trying to alert the public to be alert and more careful.
Bite: 2:31 as long as people know, as long as people are more careful. They know how to combat this situation.
Some of the robberies have been violent. Some victims have been tied up. Police are tracking several groups they believe are responsible for this wave of crime. There have been several arrests, but the crimes keep coming.