Distressing moment 92-year-old Asian man with severe dementia is shoved to the ground as his 'despicable' racist attacker ranted about Covid-19 in a Canadian convenience store

• In a video shared by police, a 'heavy built' man is seen pushing the 92-year old
• The elderly Asian man falls backwards off the sidewalk, hitting his head
• In the build up to the alleged assault, the man was also making racist comments 
• Vancouver Police Department have since made 'significant leads' to find suspect
• VPD have seen an increase of anti-Asian hate crimes during Covid-19 crisis 

A 92-year-old Asian man, who suffers from severe dementia, was shoved to the ground outside of a convenience store in Vancouver by a man shouting about the coronavirus.

A video of the incident that occurred on March 13 in East Vancouver near Nanaimo Street and East 1st Avenue, was shared by the Vancouver Police Department.

It was posted with an accompanying statement requesting help from the public to identify the suspect in a 'racially motivated' attack.

In a further update on Thursday, they said thanks to numerous tips from members of the community, they had identified the suspect, thanking them for their 'overwhelming support on such a serious, intolerable issue.' They did not name the suspect.

'Everything about this assault and the behavior of the suspect is despicable,' said Constable Tania Visintin of the Vancouver Police Department at a news conference on Thursday. 

'As a police department, we do not tolerate incidents motivated by bias, prejudice, or hate. It's even more disturbing considering the victim's age.' 

In the video, the large suspect is seen in a convenience store gesturing aggressively towards someone initially out of view of the security camera it was captured on, as younger children watch.

He then reaches out of frame and grabs a smaller, frail looking man, and drags him out the front doors of the shop, before pushing him backwards. The 92-year-old man then falls backwards onto the sidewalk.

After coming back into the shop and perhaps realizing what he had done, or to make himself look less guilty, the suspect goes back outside to pick the man up off the floor, and sits him down on the sidewalk.

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The suspect, pictured right, is at first seen aggressively gesturing to someone off camera - who police say was a 92-year-old Asian man with severe dementia - reportedly making racist comments to him, referencing the coronavirus

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The suspect (left) then grabs the 92-year-old man (right) and drags him out of the shop before pushing him through the doors

In the release from the VPD, workers in the convenience store were said to be helping the 92-year-old man, who they confirmed suffers from severe dementia, before the suspect began yelling racist abuse at him. 

The abuse included comments about Covid-19, they said.

The police said that the push caused the man to hit his head when he fell over, and that the suspect fled the scene before they could arrive.

In the statement, the department have said that they have seen an increase in reports of 'anti-Asian hate-motivated incidents and criminal behavior' in the city.

Of the eleven hate crimes reported to the police in March, five had an anti-Asian element to them, the police added.

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The elderly man falls backwards through the doors and onto the sidewalk outside, where the suspect leaves him in a heap

Perhaps in an attempt to save face, the suspect returns to the elderly man outside and sits him up on the pavement. The suspect reportedly fled the scene before police arrived

In comparison, they added that in all of 2019, there were 12 such incidents in total.

'We know that hate crimes and hate-motivated incidents are generally under-reported. We believe the increase in March is indicative of a larger issue,' added Visintin. 

'We are making a plea to victims or people who witness hate crimes to please come forward and report the incidents to police so they can be investigated.'

Describing the suspect, the police said he was a white man in his 50s, believed to be six feet tall with a heavy build and has dark, short hair balding on the top.

Thanks to tips from the community, the police said investigators have 'made significant leads and have identified a suspect.'