FLUSHING — Police charged an Ozone Park man with aggravated harassment, endangering the welfare of a child and menacing as a hate crime in an April 7 incident aboard a Q88 bus, the Queens District Attorney’s office said.
Authorities believe 50-year-old Perry Germano allegedly yelled Islamophobic slurs at a 15-year-old girl on the bus while it was at the corner of Horace Harding Expressway and Kissena Boulevard, according to a complaint filed by the DA’s office.
In addition to the anti-Muslim statements, Germano allegedly spat on the teen and raised his fist, threatening to punch her, police said.
Video footage of the incident allegedly also shows Germano shoving the girl with his elbow, authorities said.
Germano allegedly told investigators he had a dispute with the girl, but never intentionally spat on her and that he never said anything about race or religion, according to the complaint.
