Czech Police searching for man who assaulted students for speaking English in Ostrava

A group of international students were assaulted on 25 November on a tram in Ostrava, Czech Republic by a self-proclaimed local resident because they were speaking English. After provoking them, the man disembarked with the group and struck two of them.

As of 6 December the man had not yet been apprehended. The Czech Police are asking the public for aid in capturing him.

The suspect is approximately 175 cm tall and was wearing a blue sweatshirt when he threw a pizza box at four international students on the tram and then addressed them in broken English, saying "This is my town, this is my home, speak Czech!" The aggressor was apparently bothered by the two young men and two young women because they were speaking English at the back of the tram.

After provoking them and verbally assaulting them, the man proceeded to attack them physically. "We are looking for the aggressor who assaulted passengers on a tram on 25 November just after 6 AM," said Richard Palát of the Ostrava Police.

"The four students, two men and two women, got onto the tram at the Stodolní stop. During the journey they sat at the back of the car and communicated with each other in English, and the perpetrator threw a pizza box at them," Palát said.

"The students disembarked at the Nová Ves vodárna stop and the perpetrator did also. One of the female students is said to have attempted to calm him, but the perpetrator is said to have roughly pushed her away and then to have punched a 20-year-old male student in the face," Palát told news server iDNES.cz.

The aggressor then assaulted the other young man, beating him after pushing him to the ground. "He did not stop his attack until the victim managed to get up and flee the scene," Palát said.

Police are investigating the case as one of felony battery, which means that if apprehended, charged and convicted, the perpetrator faces up to three years in prison. He is heavy-set and at the time of the attack had light-colored hair cut short on the sides.

The suspect is also missing one of his top teeth on the left side. At the time of the incident he was wearing a blue sweatshirt with white writing on it and light- colored pants.

During their investigation police acquired CCTV footage of the suspect (see below). Any information about the perpetrator can be communicated to the police by calling 158 or 974 727 312 in the Czech Republic.

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