A 19-year-old woman has been charged fro robbing an elderly Asian woman on a TTC subway train.
A few days ago, we reported that an elderly Asian woman was assaulted and robbed by a racist Toronto subway passenger.
Now, according to CTV, the suspect has been identified as 19-year-old Tashia James, who has since been arrested. The elderly woman has been identified as Filipino-Canadian Marilyn Quijencio.
In a video clip posted by Canadian Armed Forces member Margaret Anthony, 33,James is heard shouting “go back to China” and taking Quijencio’s phone before running off the train with it.
Quijencio said she was on her way to work at a nursing home with a co-worker when she was confronted by a man and a woman.
“We didn’t even finish our conversation and this girl and a guy came close to us,” Quijencio said. James then asked Quijencio’s coworker for a cigarette and money.
Quijencio askedJames and the man to leave them alone. “I said, ‘Go and find work so that you have money.’ That’s what I said,” Quijencio said.
This aggravatedJames who responded by saying, “you f*** immigrant, go back to China.”
Trying to ignore her, Quijencio tried to change her music on her phone, holding the device close to her face so she could see it better.
James then accused Quijencio of filming her.
“When I stood up, that’s when she grabbed my cellphone out of my hand and ran away,” she said.
In Anthony’s video, James can be heard shouting, “I just want her to delete the video,” as she tries to pry the phone out of Quijencio’s grip.
“When she started running away, I didn’t realize she had taken that person’s phone,” Anthony said. “So she snatched her phone and refused to give it up because when she was yelling ‘go back to China,’ she thought she was being filmed by the nurse in scrubs. That’s why she stole her phone to begin with.”
“I could not do anything,” Quijencio said. “I ran after her, tried to catch her, but she ran faster than me. After that, I never saw her again.”
James surrendered to authorities on Wednesday according to Toronto police. She wascharged with robbery and failure to comply with probation.
Quijencio said she hopes James learns a lesson from the incident.
“She has to learn from her mistake,” she said. “She should take a look at herself and where she comes from. She’s not a pure Canadian. She’s also an immigrant like me.”
