A teenager from Staten Island, N.Y., has been indicted on hate-crime charges for allegedly assaulting a Jewish man as he and his wife walked to a synagogue in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Logan Jones, 18, was charged on Wednesday with third-degree assault as a hate crime, third-degree assault, third-degree menacing as a hate crime, third-degree menacing, third-degree attempted assault as a hate crime, third-degree attempted assault and second-degree harassment, reported NBC New York.
Bail was set at $30,000, and he is ordered to return to court on June 24.
On April 1, Jones and a group of five people allegedly approached a 21-year-old Jewish man, who was dressed in traditional Chassidic attire, and his wife as they made their way to Shabbat services at a synagogue in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood.
Jones punched the Jewish man in the face, according to prosecutors, and joined two others in kicking the victim after he fell to the ground. The group allegedly fled the scene after the victim’s wife asked a bystander to call the police.
The victim, who tried to escape the attack by sliding underneath a truck parked in the street, suffered severe head and body pain, an abrasion to the cheek, and bruising to the face and mouth, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
“Without warning or provocation, this defendant allegedly assaulted an innocent man simply because of his Jewish faith,” said District Attorney Eric Gonzalez in a statement. “Crimes that target individuals because of their religion, race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation are a threat to everything we stand for here in Brooklyn. We will now seek to hold the defendant accountable.”
