His Explosive Streak Was Hate Crime
Grand juries in state and federal courts have indicted a Queens Village man on charges that he allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at five occupied buildings in Queens-two of which were places of worship-during nighttime hours on New Year’s Day.
The suspect was identified by Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown as Ray Lazier Lengend, 40, of 215th Street in Queens Village. He is variously charged in a 36-count indictment with arson as a hate crime, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, criminal possession of a weapon, endangering the welfare of a child, and other charges.
If convicted of the top count of first-degree arson as a hate crime, Lengend faces 25 years to life in prison.
The investigation was coordinated with the Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and the New York office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. An indictment of Lengend was also unsealed on Monday, Mar. 19 in Brooklyn Federal Court relating to the fire-bombings.
“Particularly troubling is the fact that [Lengend] is alleged to have been motivated by hate in at least two of the instances where he is alleged to have struck at a Muslim house of worship and attempted to strike at a second location which is a Hindu house of worship,” Brown said in a statement. “Hate crimes-whether they be motivated by religion, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender- will not be tolerated here in Queens, the country’s most diverse county. When they do, regrettably, occur they will be condemned swiftly and those responsible will be brought to justice.”
According to the investigation, Lengend drove a silver Buick Regal with Virginia license plates-which had been stolen from a rental car facility at John F. Kennedy International Airport-to a gas station located at the intersection of the Van Wyck Expressway and Hillside Avenue during the early evening hours of Jan. 1 and purchased five glass coffee bottles.
Lengend then allegedly drove to another gas station in the vicinity of the Van Wyck Expressway service road and Atlantic Avenue and poured gasoline into the five previously purchased containers.
According to the charges, Lengend then drove to a deli located at 179th Street and Hillside Avenue, where once inside he threw a flaming glass bottle containing gasoline. It is alleged that when the bottle hit the floor gasoline spilled out and immediately ignited. Lengend then allegedly ran out of the store and into the stolen Buick Regal.
A store employee, who extinguished the fire, reportedly recognized Lengend as the same man he had observed the previous week attempting to shoplift a bottle of Starbucks Frappacino and a small plastic bottle of milk. The fire caused damage to the interior of the store.
It is alleged that Lengend tossed another incendiary device through the front bedroom window of a private residence located on 107th Avenue. Police officers responded to the scene. Some of the windows were completely missing, and there was fire damage to the interior and exterior of the residence.
In a third incident, according to the indictment, Lengend threw a glass bottle at the exterior wall of the Al-Khoei Benevolent Association, a mosque located at 89-89 Van Wyck Expwy. Witnesses observed a fire on the mosque’s front steps, as well as two broken glass bottles, two bottle caps and rolled up tissue paper. When police arrived later that night, they observed fire damage on the mosque’s exterior.
Furthermore, it is alleged that Lengend threw a glass bottle containing gasoline at a private residence located on 170th Street, causing a fire on the lawn. This location is also used as a Hindu place of worship. Video footage depicting the incident was recovered, in addition to a glass bottle from the front lawn of the residence.
Finally, it is alleged that the defendant lit a bottle filled with gasoline and threw it at a private dwelling located on 43rd Avenue. The house was occupied at the time.
In statements allegedly made to police, Lengend is alleged to have admitted that he had planned to inflict as much damage as possible and take out as many Muslims and Arabs as possible by throwing all five bottles into the crowd from the [mosque’s] balcony and made further references to his dislike of Muslims, Arabs and Hindus.
The investigation was conducted by the 103rd Precinct’s Detective Squad, the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force, the NYPD Crime Scene Unit, and the NYPD Special Investigations Division’s Arson and Explosion Squad.
Assistant District Attorney David J. Jeffries of the District Attorney’s Gang Violence and Hate Crimes Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Mariela Palomino Herring, bureau chief, and Michelle E. Goldstein, deputy bureau chief, and under the overall supervision of Senior Executive Assistant District Attorney for Trials James C. Quinn and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney Robert J. Masters.
It was noted that an indictment is merely an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
