The NYPD on Monday, Aug. 15 arrested a third teenager in connection to an alleged hate crime attack on a Flushing grandmother on a bus in Woodhaven last month.
Detectives from the Queens Warrant Squad apprehended 19-year-old Jahnaiya Williams of Waltham Street in South Jamaica Monday morning in Coney Island.
Williams was one of the three teens who allegedly attacked Jill LeCroix, a 57-year-old grandmother of five, as she rode on a Q52 bus toward the Rockaways on the afternoon of Saturday, July 9.
The three teens approached LaCroix as the bus came to a stop at Woodhaven Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue. Before striking LaCroix in the head with a shopping bag, the teens allegedly made an anti-white statement. According to police, the three assailants fled the bus together.
The victim was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center for treatment of her injuries, which included a deep laceration on the right side of her head which required three staples.
Two of the teens were arrested by members of the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force on Tuesday, July 26, and charged with assault and harassment as hate crimes.
During their arraignment in Queens Criminal Court, prosecutors said the unapprehended suspect, Williams, looked directly at the victim and said, “I hate white people” and that she “hates white people’s skin.”
As they continued riding, the bus passed a cemetery and Williams stated to the victim, “I am going to kill you. This is where I’m going to bury you.”
Williams’ arraignment is pending in Queens Criminal Court.
