NYPD detectives busted a Jamaica man in connection to a series of hate crime assaults in his neighborhood and Richmond Hill. Naved Durrni, 30, of 106th Avenue was arrested Tuesday and charged in connection to several incidents where he accosted pedestrians while spewing anti-Muslim vitriol, police said.
Durrni is facing charges of menacing as a hate crime, assault as a hate crime, criminal weapons possession and aggravated harassment, according to the NYPD.
In his latest attack on July 25 at 6:30 p.m.in front of 94-06 Sutphin Blvd. Durrni followed a 38-year-old woman and allegedly brandished a knife while making anti-Muslim statements, before fleeing southbound on Sutphin Boulevard towards 94th Avenue, police said.
The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force has been searching for Durrni since June 20, when he followed a 31-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman in the vicinity of Liberty Avenue and Lefferts Boulevard while allegedly shouting anti-Muslim slurs.
The perpetrator proceeded to punch the man in the back, then grabbed the woman’s hijab and punched her on the arm, police said. Both the victims sustained pain and redness but refused medical attention.
About an hour later Durrni allegedly followed a 64-year-old man and a 56-year-old woman in the vicinity of 105 Inwood Ave. near Liberty Avenue. In that assault, he allegedly punched the woman several times in the face and head before fleeing, police said. The woman sustained pain, redness, small lacerations to the head and face as well as a fractured nose. EMS responded and transported the woman to Jamaica Hospital where she was listed in stable condition, according to the NYPD.
This story was updated on Tuesday, July 27 at 4 p.m.
