The San Francisco Police Department said that Steven Jenkins allegedly attacked an 83-year-old Asian man in a separate incident and was being chased by a security guard when he hit Xie.
The guard managed to detain Jenkins until the police arrested him.
CNN tried to contact Jenkins, but he is being held in the San Francisco County jail on $ 50,000 bail and cannot be reached for comment. The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office said it is not yet involved in the case.
Witnesses said he had been on another physical altercation about 30 minutes earlier, a San Francisco police spokesman said in a statement.
The video shows a crowd of police, paramedics and passersby gathered around Xie while she holds an ice pack by her head.
She screams and points to a man who is handcuffed to a stretcher and is being treated.
“He hit people,” Xie is heard in the video, speaking in Cantonese. “He bullied me, he bullied me, idiot.”
At one point, Xie gestures to the man with a large stick that she is holding.
Police said Jenkins, 39, was taken to a hospital for “an unrelated prior medical condition”.
They said the woman was not responsible for her injuries.
Jenkins was later arrested at San Francisco County Jail on two counts of assault that could lead to major bodily injuries and two counts of abuse of the elderly, police said.
Both victims were taken to the hospital due to non-fatal injuries, police said.
Police have not identified the victims and said the case is still under investigation.
“Investigators are working to determine whether prejudice was a motivating factor in the incident,” said the police.
Violence and discrimination against Asian Americans has increased dramatically across the country, coinciding with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Xie told KPIX that she was leaning against a pole waiting for the traffic light to change when she was hit.
She told KPIX that she found a stick and used it to defend herself. Her daughter, Dong-Mei Li, translated the interview.
“I don’t know him. Why [did] he attacked me? “Xie told KPIX through his daughter.
Li said his mother couldn’t see with her left eye on Wednesday night.
“Very scared, traumatized and very hurt and this eye is still bleeding,” said Li, referring to his mother.
Xie told KPIX that he has lived in San Francisco for 26 years.
“As you can see, she is extremely terrified,” Xie’s grandson, John Chen, told KPIX. “She is afraid to leave.”
CNN’s Dan Simon and Augie Martin contributed to this story.