QUEENS — A Korean man traveled around Flushing intent on beating and robbing Chinese women because he didn't like them, according to the Queens District Attorney's office.
Key S. Lee, of Flushing, targeted two women in his neighborhood — once in January and again on Wednesday — because of their ethnicity, according to prosecutors.
Lee, a 34-year-old cab driver, allegedly attacked his first victim as she was cleaning snow from her car on Jan. 27, 2016.
As she opened the back door of the car, Lee is accused of rushing over and pushing her into the back seat. He closed the door and began to punch the woman repeatedly in the face, according to the complaint.
He also grabbed her purse and took off with her credit card, identification and $2,000 in cash.
Lee also allegedly attacked another woman as she walked towards her Flushing apartment building on Wednesday, punching her in the face and taking her credit card and thousands of dollars in cash.
After his arrest Thursday, he admitted to attacking both women, according to the DA's office.
He told police he had gotten into a fight with his wife before the Jan. 27 attack and set out to attack Chinese people because "the majority of his [cab] customers were Chinese," prosecutors said.
“I wanted to fight someone because the Chinese people were rude and smoking in the car," he said.
"I wanted to pick a fight and that is when I saw one female cleaning snow and we made eye contact."
He told investigators he "couldn't take it any more" after he and the victim made eye contact, which set him off into a rage.
On Wednesday, he followed his second victim home after he said she cut him off in traffic without signaling, parking his cab near her apartment and following her on foot, prosecutors said.
He allegedly told police, "I don't like the Chinese and I went to Flushing to look for Chinese people."
Lee was charged Thursday with robbery as a hate crime, assault as a hate crime and several other charges, prosecutors said.
Bail was set at $1 million. If convicted of both crimes, Lee faces 50 years in prison.
District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement that "this kind of bigotry and racism is not acceptable in a civilized society."
Lee's lawyer, from the Queens Law Associates, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
