Duo targets Asian women in dozens of hate-crime purse thefts, California officials say

Two men accused of snatching purses from more than 40 Asian women starting in late 2020 also face hate crime charges, California prosecutors say.

Derje Blanks, 23, and Anthony Robinson, 24, targeted women they thought were Asian because they believed Asian women don’t use banks and would be carrying more cash, the Santa Clara County district attorney’s office said in a news release.

Thefts took place in San Jose, San Pablo, Hayward, East Palo Alto, Newark, San Leandro, Fremont, Campbell, Dublin and Milpitas, the release said.

Blanks and Robinson typically followed women to their vehicles, then smashed a window or pulled open a door to steal their purse after they had set it down on a seat, prosecutors said.

Some women were pulled or wrestled to the ground during the thefts, injuring them, the release said. The duo would sometimes refer to the women using racial slurs.

When police tried to pull Blanks and Robinson over Sept. 8, Blanks crashed into an unmarked police car and ran away. Robinson then got into the driver’s seat and tried to drive away, but he hit another vehicle, severely injuring a 2-year-old, prosecutors said.