New York police arrested a man accused of spitting on an Asian-American man in a coronavirus-related attack. Police arrested 19-year-old Nicholas Theodore and charged him with aggravated harassment and menacing, reports the NY Daily News. Theodore, who is from Harlem, was released after he was given an appearance ticket.

The incident occurred on Tuesday around 11:25 am inside the Atlantic Ave/Barclays station. The Asian man, 26, from the Lower East Side, was waiting for the subway in Brooklyn when the suspect allegedly confronted him. The suspect allegedly blamed the man for the coronavirus before spitting on him and threatening to shoot him.

“You f***ing Chinese, spreading the coronavirus. You people got the virus,” the suspect allegedly told the victim.

The suspect then allegedly spat on the victim’s face before sticking his hand in his coat pocket to mimic a gun.

The victim got away and notified a nearby police officer. The police soon arrested the suspect. The victim was not hurt.

There has been a rise in coronavirus-related hated crimes against Asians since the outbreak. In New York alone, there have been eight coronavirus-related hate crimes against Asians including this one, since the outbreak. Consequently, the New York Attorney General Letitia James set up a hotline earlier this week for New York Asians to report discrimination and crimes committed against them.

“With rising reports of harassment & assaults, as well as rhetoric against Asian Americans amidst #coronavirus, I’m launching a hotline for New Yorkers to report hate crimes & bias-based incidents,” James tweeted. “This pandemic does not give anyone an excuse to be racist, xenophobic, or biased.”