FAIRFIELD, Calif. — A 70-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint and pistol-whipped in front of his own home in Fairfield on Thursday morning.
The attack was caught on the family's doorbell camera. Police are investigating the attack which happened in a new housing development in Fairfield.
ABC10 visited the man Monday and he said that he is doing well. His family is still reeling and didn’t want to be on camera, but they are sharing the 45-second video.
The Ring video captures the moment just after the man unlocked the front door after getting home from the bank. A masked robber runs up behind him telling him to "shut up" and demanding he "take it out of your pockets."
The senior resists and screams for help toward his adult children inside the home. As he falls to the ground, the robber is seen in the video pistol-whipping him. The struggle ensues, and the suspect pistol-whips the man a second time.
Seconds later, his son opens the blinds, sees the struggle outside and swings the door open. The suspect runs off, and the son ushers his father inside. His son tells ABC10 the assailant only took a cell phone, but tossed it, perhaps because it was an iPhone.
“I just couldn’t believe it," said Joyce Oren, a neighbor.
Neighbor Joyce Oren says the family had just moved in a few months ago, and the tight-knit neighborhood is doing anything it can to help them. She’s a neighborhood watch captain of the new development, which was built in 2019.
“I sent out an email saying, 'Hey, any kind of video footage that you might have between 10 and 11 o'clock that morning, could you please send it to me and get it to the police if necessary," she said.
The victim’s son tells ABC10 it has been traumatic for their Filipino family, given the dramatic rise of anti-Asian hate crimes. According to the California Attorney General’s office, anti-Asian hate crimes rose 177% in 2021.
The Fairfield Police says the attack appears to be a crime of opportunity and is investigating the incident. Meanwhile, Oren hopes her neighbors can come together to make the family feel safe in their new home.
“I just don’t know what we can do to help ourselves other than just watch each other's back," she said. "It just comes to show you have to be vigilant no matter where you live."
On the same day this attack happened, the state awarded $30 million to bolster local services to prevent hate crimes and support victims. While this incident has not been deemed a hate crime by law enforcement, those in the Asian American community say elderly Asian American Pacific Islanders seem to be targeted because they are stereotypically perceived as silent and easy targets.
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