Rally for elderly woman attacked at Oakland laundromat

OAKLAND, Calif. - Community leaders and well-wishers attended a rally Thursday to support a 65-year-old woman who was attacked while working at an Oakland laundromat.

"I'm angry, I'm afraid, frustrated and you gotta do something about it," the worker, Ruth Wilde said at the rally, referring to police and city leaders.

"I want to go to work, but I'm afraid, but you gotta change it so victims have rights," she said.

Organizers said they were upset that only one of the two women accused of attacking her was cited and released by Oakland police.

It happened at Woody's Laundromat on Park Boulevard on March 16, after Wilde told the women they had arrived too late to start their laundry. The women, one in blue and the other in yellow, left with their clothes, only to come back 40 minutes later, saying some of their clothes were missing.

They demanded she check the laundromat's surveillance video, but Wilde didn't have access to the video.

The woman in blue grabs her and pushes her against the machines. 

A few minutes later, the woman in yellow makes a punching motion and then hits her, knocking her to the ground.

The woman in blue then grabs her, drags her and pushes her.

Wilde called Oakland police. As she waits outside, the woman in blue again punches her but she isn't physically arrested.

"If we can't protect our elders, then we have failed as a society," said laundromat owner Robert Ma.

Ma said it's frustrating no one was physically booked.

"We are living in a dystopian society. This is a dereliction of duty of our leaders," he said.

Those at the rally made clear they're not giving Mayor Sheng Thao any props, a day after she introduced new Police Chief Floyd Mitchell at City Hall.

"She gets no credit. What she really needs to do is resign. She will get credit for that," said Tuan Ngo of Asians Unite.

City councilmembers Noel Gallo and Dan Kalb spoke out in response.

"I don't need more hugging and talking. I need action," Gallo said. "The reality, what happened here, grandmas and grandpas are being violated daily."

Kalb said "We have to make sure that people are not just feel safer but are actually tangibly safer than they were before. And that's the focus of our efforts today, yesterday, today and tomorrow."
 

Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan