Flushing Man Robbed, Beat Chinese Women In Hate Crimes

FLUSHING, QUEENS -- A Queens man faces up to five years behind bars for hate crimes after admitting he robbed and beat two Chinese women because of their race.

Key S. Lee, 35, of Flushing, pleaded guilty on Dec. 1 to robbery as a hate crime after repeatedly punching two Chinese women and stealing their purses in separate attacks, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. According to the charges, Lee told police when he was arrested, "I don't like the Chinese, and I went to Flushing to look for Chinese people."

Brown said in both of the early 2016 attacks, Lee sought out the Chinese women when they were alone and pounced on the women, punching them in the face and making off with thousands of dollars in cash that had been in their purses.

According to charges from the first attack on Jan. 27, 2016, a woman noticed Lee standing on a nearby corner watching her but ignored him as she cleared layers of snow off of her vehicle. When the woman opened the back door, Lee ran at her and pushed her into the car's backseat, covering her body with his and closing the door behind him, according to the complaint.

Lee repeatedly punched the woman in the face and grabbed her purse - making off with a credit card, her ID and roughly $2,000 in cash - before fleeing the scened, Brown said.

According to the complaint, Lee admitted to attacking the woman after seeing surveillance footage of the incident and said he'd been angry and looking to pick a fight that night after an argument with his wife. He also said he worked as a cab driver and a majority of his customers were Chinese.

According to charges from the second attack just weeks later, Lee spotted another woman on Feb. 10, 2016, and followed her back to her apartment building before punching her in the face several times and running off with her handbag. He made off with credit cards, ID and roughly $2,000 in cash, Brown said.

Lee said when he was arrested that he decided to follow the woman back to her apartment after she had cut him off in traffic while he was driving home, according to the charges. He then told police that he didn't like the Chinese and was in the area specifically to target Chinese people, according to the charges.

"This kind of bigotry and hate are not acceptable in a civilized society and will not be tolerated in Queens County," Brown said.

Lee pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree robbery as a hate crime and is slated to be sentenced on Dec. 18. He faces up to five years in prison and an additional five years probation, Brown said.

Lead image via Shutterstock.