A 51-year-old man has been charged with hate crimes in connection with two separate stabbings that occurred Thursday on Manhattan's Upper West Side, according to law-enforcement sources. The suspect, identified as Raul Morales, faces charges including attempted murder as a hate crime and assault as a hate crime for his attack on a visibly Jewish man.
Morales allegedly yelled "Allahu Akbar!" and muttered "Islam" during his rampage. The Jewish victim, Moshe Yezhak Grunhaus, was stabbed in the chest with a screwdriver in broad daylight while wearing a yarmulke. He is currently hospitalized.
Authorities also allege that Morales stabbed an Asian passer-by in the back before attacking the Jewish victim. He has been charged with attempted murder, assault in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with this earlier assault. Both victims remain hospitalized.
Morales also faces charges of assault in the first degree and criminal possession of a weapon for the attack on the Jewish victim. The investigation is ongoing.