Five Asian-owned businesses targets of vandalism in San Jose

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Five Asian-owned businesses in San Jose were vandalized in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and investigators suspect the same vandal was responsible for a string of incidents in Milpitas, authorities said.

Related Articles Watch: San Jose reacts to vandalism at Asian-owned businesses Two businesses in the Berryessa neighborhood seven blocks apart, Lee’s Sandwiches and the Seven Leaves Cafe, had their glass windows and doors smashed within three minutes of each other, according to reports filed with the San Jose Police Department.

Around 5:49 a.m., a vandal shattered the glass of the windows and doors at Lee’s, then around 5:52 a.m., the same happened at Seven Leaves, a short drive down Berryessa Road.

Another business in the neighborhood, Tastea, had its windows smashed about two hours earlier, around 3:18 a.m., police said. Pho Y #1 Noodle House on Concourse Avenue was also vandalized.

One business identified by police as being in the group or targeted businesses, Lee’s Sandwiches on South King Road south of Tully Road, is more than seven miles away from the Berryessa cluster.

A vandal also shattered the front windows of three businesses on the 200 block of West Calaveras Boulevard in Milpitas the same morning, police in that city said.

San Jose police, citing surveillance images, described the suspect as an Asian or Latino man, about 5 feet 6 inches tall, 130 pounds, wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and dark pants. He was also recorded wearing a face mask and gloves.

The suspect was also linked to a dark-colored pickup truck resembling a Toyota Tacoma, with a chrome tool box in the truck bed.

San Jose police said there was no immediate evidence indicating a motive, including whether the damages constituted potential hate crimes.

Since the onset of COVID-19 — which was first identified in Wuhan, China, but has no other bearings on race or ethnicity — local officials and advocacy groups have been on high alert for hate crimes toward Asians.

The Asian-American Pacific Islander Civil Rights Center launched a portal last month through which victims could report incidents. In its first two weeks, it had received more than 1,100 submissions.

The Santa Clara District Attorney released a public-service announcement video last month, with a multi-ethnic slate of prosecutors denouncing hate crimes over COVID-19.

“This is not a Chinese virus,” supervising district attorney Charlotte Chang says to begin the minute-long video, a rebuke of a term used by President Donald Trump.

Anyone with information about the incidents can contact San Jose police Detective Ryan Wagner at 408-277-4401 or the Milpitas Police Department at 408-586-2400, or leave a tip with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or at svcrimestoppers.org.

Staff writers Robert Salonga and Jason Green contributed to this report.

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