The man accused of repeatedly ramming his car into the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn in late January is now federally charged with damaging religious property.
Dan Sohail, who was previously charged by the state with committing a hate crime in the Jan. 28 caught-on-camera incident at 770 Eastern Pkwy, is set to appear in Brooklyn federal court Monday afternoon.
In video footage, a 2012 Honda Accord is seen driving into a wooden door at the Crown Heights Chabad building, then backing up and ramming the door again, four more times. Sohail, 36, who’s wearing shorts and boots with a mid-weight jacket, is then seen exiting the car and is arrested by New York Police Department officers.
State officials previously charged Sohail with four counts, all of which are being considered hate crimes, the day after the attack. He was already in state custody at Rikers Island when federal law enforcement arrested him early Monday morning.
Sohail’s court-appointed attorney refuted the notion that the incident was, as prosecutors would have to prove, driven by bias — in fact, the defendant, whose mother is Catholic and father is Muslim, reportedly, has taken an interest in Judaism and is converting to the faith.
“He denies that the actions were intentional in the way [the government describes them],” defense attorney Mia Eisner-Grynberg said at Monday’s appearance, adding that her client had previously visited the same Chabad center as a “congregant.”
“He identifies as a Jewish person, or is undergoing the process of converting to Judaism,” Eisner-Grynberg said of Sohail, who sat beside her sporting khaki jail-issued fatigues, shoulder-length hair, a thick beard and a black velvet kippah.
Eisner-Grynberg sought to get Sohail released and returned to Rikers in time for a Jewish holiday observance. The holiday of Purim begins Monday at sundown.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Clay Kaminsky, however, said he wasn’t willing to release Sohail without appropriate bail conditions, including at least one suretor. He also said mental health treatment, or at least an evaluation, will be appropriate for Sohail.
The federal detention hearing will continue Wednesday; he’ll be in federal custody in the meantime. But Kaminsky said he believes the defendant is bailable. According to his lawyer, he lives with his mother and brothers in New Jersey and works as a generator technician and lawn fertilizer technician. Eisner-Grynberg indicated that at least one family member would agree to be a suretor.
In the event the damage to the property exceeds $5,000, the maximum penalty is three years in prison on Sohail’s federal charge. If the damage is less than $5,000 he faces a one-year maximum sentence.
Meanwhile, the fate of the state case against Sohail is uncertain: Eisner-Grynberg said she believes the state charges will be dropped. Sohail is expected to appear in state court later this month.
