The man who repeatedly rammed his vehicle into the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn on Wednesday night has officially been charged with a hate crime, police said.
According to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, 36-year-old Dan Sohail cleared his way before accelerating his 2012 Honda Accord into the door of 770 Eastern Pkwy. at 8:46 p.m. on Jan. 28. The entire incident was caught on security camera footage that police recovered.
“We recovered CCTV video and footage that shows Sohail parking his car a few blocks from the synagogue last night. He exits the car and proceeds to walk over to the alleyway of this location. He then removes several blockades from the driveway and returns back to his car. A few minutes later, he drives his Honda to the driveway itself, exits his car, removes snow from the sidewalk and drives into the alleyway and begins to strike the building,” Chief Kenny said.
Sources with knowledge of the incident say that Sohail attempted to visit a synagogue in New Jersey as recently as Tuesday with the aim of seeking help from faith leaders and possibly even converting to Judaism, but was turned away. They say he allegedly had the same intention at the Chabad Headquarters and tried to force his way inside with his vehicle.
Police report that Sohail rammed the entrance at least five times, reversing and then accelerating. A video circulating on social media appears to show Sohail sending the wooden front doors imploding inward before emerging from the vehicle and telling a responding officer, “It slipped.”
“He stated that his foot slipped, and he stated that the reason he lost control of the car was that he was wearing clunky boots,” Chief Kenny added.
Although they do not believe the Jewish community to be at any further risk, the NYPD will be ramping up uniformed presence at houses of worship over the coming days.
No one was injured in the strange incident. Because of the details gathered in the preliminary investigation and that the incident happened at a prominent Jewish institution, the incident is being considered a hate crime.
Sohail is charged with attempted assault, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and aggravated harassment — each of which was classified as hate crimes.
