Asian-American man viciously beaten in terrifying encounter caught on video

An Asian-American man was brutally beaten in the Bronx in an attack interrupted by police -- who aren't sure whether to call it a hate crime.

The victim crashed Monday night into the rear of a black Honda Fit on the Cross Bronx Expressway, and both he and that driver pulled over on the side of the road in the rain -- along with a Mercedes minivan without a license plate, and about 10 people got out of the other two vehicles and surrounded him, reported WABC-TV.

"He yelled, '(expletive) Chinese, I'm going to kill you,' two or three times," the victim said of one men, who punched his driver's side window, pulled back the shattered glass and punched him, and then tried to pull him through.

The assailant then broke in through the passenger side window and repeatedly punched and kicked the victim, and the 28-year-old was then trapped inside his vehicle for seven minutes talking to 911 dispatchers until a police cruiser happened to drive past and the attackers fled.

"If there's no hate, why do you treat me like this?" said the victim, who was hospitalized for two days for treatment of his injuries. "I'm not first generation of immigrants. I'm not first generation. I'm like second or third. I'm young, but I still get treated like this."

The assailant was standing on the hood of his car trying to kick in the windshield when police arrived, but the attackers drove away before officers could make any arrests.

"That's a pretty vicious hate crime," said Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), the man's congressional representative. "He wasn't seen as American enough that night. This guy did use racial slurs while beating up the victim, so I really hope they take this seriously."

I hope this case is being seriously investigated. Cops arrived mid-beating & were able to stop attack.This guy coul… https://t.co/s2yh4IRNxi

— Grace Meng (@Grace4NY) 1631764703.0