A woman has been charged with an 'anti-Asian hate crime' after being accused of spitting at a man
- A woman in California was arrested after being accused of spitting on an Asian American man.
- Karen Inman has been accused of yelling racial slurs and making racist comments on several occasions.
- She has been charged with an anti-Asian hate crime.
A 39-year-old woman from California was charged with an "anti-Asian hate crime" after she was accused of using ethnic slurs and spitting on a stranger, the Santa Clara County District Attorney said.
Karen Inman, of Greenbrae, was arrested Friday in Mountain View after police were told she had attempted to steal candy and ice cream from a Smart and Final grocery store, police said in a statement.
By the time of the arrest, she had already been identified as a suspect in a February 13 theft, during which she allegedly told the victims she didn't have to pay because they were Asian. When police responded to that call last month, they received another call, accusing Inman of yelling racial epithets at a diner and spitting in the direction of an Asian-American man who was eating there.
Police interviewed victims from both interactions that day, but neither wanted to press charges so officers released her.
The department proceeded in its investigation after Inman's release, police said.
The District Attorney's office issued an arrest warrant and when officers received a call about the petty theft on Friday, Inman was also charged with a hate crime for her previous accused behavior.
"This case is both disheartening and disturbing. Mountain View is a vibrant community in many ways thanks to the diversity that exists here," Chief Chris Hsiung said in a written statement. "Hate crimes have not and will not be tolerated in Mountain View and as this case demonstrates, we take these crimes seriously and will investigate them to the fullest extent."
Hate against Asian Americans skyrocketed in the last year, due in part to a false narrative blaming them for the COVID-19 pandemic.