A Staten Island teen was indicted on hate crime charges Wednesday after he allegedly attacked a Jewish man as he and his wife walked to Shabbat services at their Williamsburg synagogue earlier this year.
Just before 8 pm on April 1, 18-year-old Logan Jones and five friends allegedly approached the victim, 21, and his wife, near Gerry Street and Harrison Avenue. Jones then punched the victim in the face, according to the investigation, and joined two others in repeatedly kicking the victim, who tried to escape by sliding underneath a truck parked in the street.
Jones and the five others allegedly fled the scene, and the victim’s wife asked a bystander to call the police. The victim — who was dressed in traditional Hasidic attire when the attack occurred — suffered severe head and body pain, an abrasion to the cheek, as well as 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,” District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said 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.”
Jones is charged 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.
Bail was set at $30,000 and he is due to return to court on June 24.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Katherine Gardzalla of the District Attorney’s Hate Crimes Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kelli Muse, bureau chief.
Year-to-date, there have been 142 reported and confirmed hate crimes citywide, according to the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Dashboard. Of those, nearly half, or 67 incidents, involved victims of Jewish faith.
