The NYPD Hate Crimes Unit is looking for the suspect who allegedly attacked a bus rider in Richmond Hill because he was wearing a turban.
Photo courtesy of the NYPD
The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Unit is investigating an assault that occurred Sunday on board an MTA shuttle bus in South Richmond Hill after a young rider was allegedly attacked for wearing a turban and a face mask, according to authorities.
The 106th Precinct reported that the bias crime went down on the shuttle in the vicinity of Liberty Avenue and 118th Street just after 9 a.m on Oct. 15, when a stranger approached the 19-year-old victim and allegedly said, “We don’t wear that in this country and take that mask off.”
The assailant allegedly punched the rider in the back of the head, in his face and back multiple times, causing a minor laceration and pain, police said. During the assault, the perpetrator tried to remove the turban from the young man’s head, according to the NYPD.
The stranger ran off the bus on Liberty Avenue and fled the location in an unknown direction, police said. The victim refused medical attention at the crime scene and there were no other injuries reported as a result of the assault.
The NYPD released several surveillance photos of the suspect from inside the shuttle bus on Oct. 16 and described him as having a dark complexion with a slim build and goatee. He is believed to be around 25 to 30 years of age.
He was last seen wearing a yellow bubble jacket, ripped and faded blue jeans and white sneakers.
The suspect remains at large and the NYPD Hate Crimes Unit continues to investigate. Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.
The 106th Precinct has reported three hate crimes so far in 2023, one fewer than the four reported at the same point last year, a decline of 25%, according to the most recent CompStat report. The 106th Precinct reported 278 assaults so far this year, the same number of incidents that were…
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