Kaila White

The Republic | azcentral.com

Two Asian Arizona State University studentswere assaulted last month shortly after leaving a light-rail car, according to Tempe police.

A woman and a man were talking in Mandarin when a White woman riding eastbound in the same car told them, "I don't speak Chinese, shut the (expletive) up," according to the police report on the incident, which occurred shortly before 10:40 p.m. May 20.

The students got off the light rail at the next stop, but the woman followed and punched one of the students, a woman, on the right side of the face, the report said.

When the male student stepped in front of the female student, he was punched in the face, and his glasses fell off, the report said.

"I lost consciousness for a few seconds, and then I found myself on the ground with blood all over my face," the female student told China Daily, adding that the attack left her with a broken bone in her face and a swollen eye.

A woman was detained shortly after the assaults by Tempe police. Kalie McIntyre Rutledge, 22, was held on suspicion of aggravated assault, a felony; and assault and disorderly conduct, two misdemeanors. An officer found a substance appearing to be methamphetamines in one of her pockets, the police report said.

Four days before the incident, on May 16, Rutledge was released from a Maricopa County jail after serving 60 days for criminal trespassing and resisting arrest, according to Officer Courtney Palma, a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.