April 27, 2021 -- Westchester DA Miriam E. Rocah issued the following statement today regarding the ongoing investigation into the March 9 assault of a Korean-American woman in White Plains:
The Westchester District Attorney’s Office is committed to prosecuting anyone who commits hate crimes to the fullest extent of the law. We are also firmly committed to maintaining the integrity of all of our arrests and prosecutions.
In early March, an elderly Korean-American woman was assaulted on a sidewalk in White Plains and a suspect was identified in the case. In the course of our investigation, however, the Assistant District Attorneys handling the case found issues with aspects of the identification that rendered it inadmissible and unusable in court.
We have now determined that available evidence beyond the inadmissible identification is not sufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect originally arrested committed the assault as charged. As justice requires, we are dismissing all charges against this individual.
The incident remains under investigation by the Westchester DA’s Office. Anyone who has information about this crime is encouraged to call the DA’s Office hotline at (914) 995-TIPS and choose the option for hate crimes in any of the available languages.
_______________
Media contact:
Dan Weiller, Director of Communications
(914) 995-3586
dweiller@westchesterda.net
