‘Easy target’ Man sentenced to prison after attack on Asian woman

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SAN LEANDRO, California. – An East Bay man was sentenced to prison after the robbery of an Asian woman “because Asians are easy targets who don’t fight back,” according to federal prosecutors.

Freddie Lee Davis III, 27, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and was sentenced Thursday to two years in federal prison. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Northern California said Friday that co-defendant Sene Malepeai, 27, pleaded guilty to the same charges and has not yet been sentenced.

In the plea agreement, prosecutors said Malepeai and three others discussed “going to Chinatown to rob Asian women with purses or jewelry” on June 17, 2021, and ended up going to a Costco in San Leandro.

Two members of the group “chose to rob Asians because they thought they had more money, and Asians were easy targets who did not fight back,” prosecutors said, citing Malepeai’s plea agreement.

The robbery occurred in the Costco parking lot as the victim exited the store and was walking to his vehicle. A black Honda was next to her and a man reached into the moving car and took her purse, prosecutors said.

The woman held her purse and was dragged through several cars. While the car was speeding away, the woman fell to the ground and was injured. Prosecutors said security cameras revealed the car had a license plate registered to Davis.

After the robbery, the occupants divided the stolen goods, including cash, credit cards, a checkbook and two cellphones, prosecutors said Malepeai admitted.

Davis pleaded guilty Aug. 1 to taking the woman’s stolen MasterCard credit card. Prosecutors said he and Malepeai used it to buy items at a shoe store in San Leandro and make other fraudulent purchases.

Prosecutors said Davis was ordered to pay restitution in a determined amount in addition to his prison sentence and be sentenced to three years of supervised release after his release from prison.