MOUNTAIN VIEW – Authorities on Friday arrested a 39-year-old homeless woman on suspicion of committing anti-Asian hate crimes during a theft at a Mountain View business last month.

The incident was reported Feb. 13 in the 200 block of Castro Street. The woman took food and clothing from the business and told the victims she did not have to pay because they were Asian, the Mountain View Police Department said in a news release.

Police said the woman also allegedly yelled racial epithets at an Asian customer and spat in his direction.

The victims declined to press charges, but police continued to investigate the case and presented it to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors determined the woman could be charged with hate crimes and a warrant was issued for her arrest.

On Friday, the woman was arrested at the Smart and Final in the 100 block of East El Camino Real, where she was suspected of trying to steal candy and ice cream. Police said there was no indication she made any racist remarks at the store.

The woman was booked into county jail on charges of petty theft, robbery and violation of civil rights by force or threat, police said. As of Friday night, she was being held at the Main Jail in San Jose on $60,000 bail, according to online jail records.

In a statement, Mountain View police Chief Chris Hsiung called the case “both disheartening and disturbing.”

“Mountain View is a vibrant community in many ways thanks to the diversity that exists here,” Hsiung said. “Hate crimes have not and will not be tolerated in Mountain View and as this case demonstrates, we take these crimes seriously and will investigate them to the fullest extent.”

The case is not unique to Mountain View. Thousands of racist and violent incidents against Asian Americans have been reported in the Bay Area and across the country since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Stop AAPI Hate project at San Francisco State University.