A man arrested last month in a string of attacks on seven Asian women in New York City has been indicted on felony and misdemeanor hate crimes charges, the office of the Manhattan District Attorney announced Monday.
Steven Zajonc, 28, faces six felony counts of assault in the third degree as a hate crime and seven counts of aggravated harassment in the second degree, a misdemeanor hate crime, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.
Zajonc’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
March 3, 202201:27
Zajonc, who was arrested by New York Police Department officers March 2, is accused in a three-hour string of attacks targeting Asian women on Feb. 27.
Police said Zajonc punched or otherwise hurt his victims, who ranged in age from 19 to 57, without provocation.
“As alleged, within just three hours, Steven Zajonc selectively ambushed seven Asian women in separate assaults, some of which he struck from behind — for no other reason than their perceived race,” Bragg said in his statement.
Authorities said the first attack happened after 6 p.m. in the Midtown area when the suspect approached a woman, 57, and punched her in the face before running off.
Most of the victims sustained bruises and lacerations, the D.A. said, but one was knocked unconscious and hospitalized.
Zajonc was taken into custody March 2 when New York Public Library security employees spoke up about a patron who looked similar to a suspect wanted in the attacks, according to a library spokesperson and police.
The NYPD had circulated security video images of a person wanted in connection with the attacks.
The suspect barricaded himself at the library, but officers were ultimately able to get him detained, NBC New York reported.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has 27 open cases related to anti-Asian hate crime, according to Monday’s statement.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
