Police arrested a 14-year-old boy and charged him with three counts, including assault as a hate crime.
The incidents happened in the morning of Aug. 21. A 72-year-old man said he was approached by a group of people, and one ran up to him and sprayed him in the face with a fire extinguisher.
At around the same time, police say a 66-year-old Jewish man fell victim to a similar attack, and he was also punched.
NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said it’s believed the victims were targeted because they were Jewish.
“No one deserves to be the victim of such senseless hateful violence. No one,” Sewell said.
The commissioner said arrests by the Hate Crimes Task Force are up over 100 percent this year and arrests by the task force for attacks on Jewish New Yorkers are up by 45 percent.
