Pinoy family mocked, attacked in California

MANILA, Philippines — A Filipino family was a victim of another hate crime when they were mocked and physically attacked at a fastfood restaurant in North Hollywood, California.

An ABS-CBN report said the incident happened on May 13 that began at the fastfood drive-thru around 10 p.m. when a jeep bumped the family car of Patricia Roque.

“As we were about to get to the drive-thru, someone bumped the back of our car and we immediately went ahead and called 911 and our dad to help us,” Roque said.

“What started out as a minor traffic collision escalated into something more dangerous, and something we never would have expected,” she said.

She said her family was verbally attacked and threatened by the other driver after telling them they were “so Asian.”

“He said ‘I’ll kill you,’” she said.

Nerissa, Patricia’s mother, narrated that her husband Gabriel arrived in the area, but the driver of the other car rushed to him and punched him as he fell to the ground.

“The attacker then tried to open our car to get my daughter. My husband stopped him and the man punched him. My husband fell on the ground, and as I was helping him to get up, the suspect strangled me,” Nerissa said in Filipino.

Bystanders tried to intervene and police arrived in the area.

She was able to avoid the attacker who tried to hit her.

“But he hit my chest. So the pain until now is with me. I remember the pain until now. The attack left my husband with a broken rib,” she said.

“I was traumatized. It hurts. It’s different when your very family is the one being attacked. That’s what we see on TV. I thought it would not happen, but it happened to my family. It’s traumatizing. Up to now, it’s painful,” Nerissa said.

Police would not identify the attacker yet pending investigation, the family said.