UPDATE: Police identify battery suspect in Crime Stoppers post

UPDATE (11:25 AM 1/25/22) – Champaign Police say they have identified the offender.

Agents included a description of the breed in their original press release. When we asked law enforcement if this might be similar to other incidents we’ve seen nationwide that appear to target Asian Americans, officers said they wouldn’t do any comment on this as it is an active investigation.

More information will be updated as it becomes available.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Charges have been changed after further information from Champaign police.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – Champaign County Crime Stoppers is asking for the public’s help regarding violent/disorderly conduct.

Investigators say a man approached an Asian woman while she was walking her dog in Hessel Park around 2 p.m. on December 27. She was alarmed by his actions and began videotaping their interaction. The man made obscene gestures and remarks at her. As the lady tried to get around the man, he snatched the phone from her hands.

The man is described as a middle-aged white man, wearing a baseball cap, blue zip-up hoodie, blue jeans, white sneakers and glasses.

Investigators need the public’s help to identify the subject. Anyone with information regarding this crime or any other crime in Champaign County can contact Crime Stoppers at 217-373-TIPS, 373tips.com or through the P3 Tips mobile app.

Tipsters are completely anonymous when contacting Crime Stoppers. All tips submitted to Crime Stoppers are electronically stripped of any personally identifying information and handled by a third party answering service – NOT law enforcement. Cash rewards of up to $1,000 are paid out of tips received by Crime Stoppers for information leading to an arrest. Tipsters will never be asked for their name and will be given a personal code number to verify a possible reward.