Brooklyn woman faces slew of hate crime charges in back-to-back Manhattan attacks
Anna Mochalova, 32, allegedly assaulted a Hasidic Jewish man from Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood and then a man wearing a yarmulke - just five minutes apart. The incidents happened in Manhattan’s Diamond District, and the first attack was caught on surveillance video.
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A Brooklyn woman was arraigned on a slew of hate crime charges on Sunday in two possible antisemitic attacks in Manhattan, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Anna Mochalova, 32, allegedly assaulted a Hasidic Jewish man from Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood and then a man wearing a yarmulke - just five minutes apart. The incidents happened in Manhattan’s Diamond District, and the first attack was caught on surveillance video.
According to the criminal complaint, Mochalova began following a 26-year-old man at around 5:50 p.m. while making motions with her hands and talking to him in a foreign language.
Investigators say Mochalova then allegedly cornered the victim near a parked car in front of 15 West 47th St. when he felt a stinging sensation in his lower back. The 26-year-old suffered a laceration to the lower back, according to the complaint.
Paramedics took him to NYC Health and Hospitals/Bellevue. Detectives say he is expected to recover physically.
"I can confirm the victim is a young man from Crown Heights whose family has deep roots in the neighborhood and is part of the Lubavitch community," said Yaacov Behrman, a liaison for Chabad Headquarters in Crown Heights. "We appreciate law enforcement's response. I understand they have a suspect in custody."
According to police, just five minutes later, at West 45th St. and Avenue of the Americas, Mochalova bumped into a 37-year-old man from behind. Prosecutors say the victim was wearing a Yarmulke and spoke Russian.
The 37-year-old then experienced a stinging sensation, according to the criminal complaint. Investigators say he suffered a laceration to the forearm.
Prosecutors say the victim turned around and confronted Mochalova, who, while speaking Russian, told him to run away, that she had a gun and that she was going to shoot him.
Police say the 37-year-old turned down medical attention.
The victim said he watched Mochalova approach another man nearby and ask him if he was Jewish. When the man told her he was Muslim she allegedly apologized and walked away.
Mochalova, of Brighton Beach, was arrested at around 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Prosecutors say Mochalova is charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime, two counts of menacing as a hate crime, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and two counts of aggravated harassment.
The D.A.’s Office says it requested bail be set at $100,000 cash. The judge set bail at $50,000 cash.
Mochalova is expected back in court on Thursday.
