16-year-old arrested in connection to brutal group attack on Jewish man in Queens
FLUSHING, Queens (WABC) -- A 16-year-old is the first suspect arrested in connection to a group attack on a Jewish man in Queens last month.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the arrest on Friday, coming more than a month after a 48-year-old Jewish man was brutally beaten by a group of attackers near the World's Fair grounds at Flushing Meadows Corona Park on February 19.
The 16-year-old suspect was charged with 17 counts related to assault, robbery and a hate crime.
"We respect the diversity of our Borough and affronts to that, especially violent ones, will not be tolerated," Katz said. "The defendant is being charged with not only the robbery, but for the assault as a hate crime for this cowardly alleged antisemitic attack."
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The suspect is the first arrest in the case.
The victim, Sam Levy, was ambushed around 8:25 p.m. on his nightly walk along the roundabout in Flushing Meadows Corona Park where he was robbed and beaten.
The attackers then began yelling antisemitic slurs at him. Levy believes the muggers realized he was Jewish when they saw his name on his ID.
The five other suspects have not yet been arrested.
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