Woman hurls racial slurs, hits man with chair in Manhattan McDonald's
CHINATOWN, Manhattan (WABC) -- A woman allegedly went on a rampage inside a Manhattan McDonald's, hurling anti-Hispanic remarks before throwing a chair at a man.
The incident happened on March 25 around 10:30 a.m. inside the McDonald's on Canal Street in Chinatown. Police released video of the suspect in the Canal Street subway station.
Police say the woman walked up to a customer inside the restaurant and shouted anti-Hispanic statements, calling the man an "(expletive) Mexican" and a racial slur before picking up a chair and hitting him with it.
"In my opinion I would say she's a racist but I don't know if she has some other mental problems or something," the victim, 33-year-old Miguel Ucho said. "But for me, it was a racist person."
Ucho, a construction worker, was having breakfast with a relative when he says the woman, out of nowhere, began hurling profane and anti-Hispanic comments at him, but he didn't pay attention to her.
Things turned ugly quickly. Miguel says the woman hit him in the head with a chair, ran into a bathroom and then came back out and continued hitting him with an umbrella. He was left with a contusion on his face and had to be taken to the hospital.
Miguel says the woman eventually ran outside but that he was unable to catch her, even though he did snap a few pictures on his phone.
"I started chasing her but I couldn't stop her," he said. "Then I came back to McDonald's and I called 911."
Police were able to get a clear image of the woman as she tried to enter the subway station.
It's unclear what may have led to the outburst, and police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
The suspect is described as being about 5-foot-2 and 180 pounds.
Crimestoppers is now offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
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