Today a Bronx man was sentenced to eight years in prison for a hate crime assault committed in July 2021 near a Flushing subway station where he slashed a man in the face after using racist and homophobic slurs, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Ramon Castro, 56, of Plimpton Avenue in the Bronx, pleaded guilty to charges earlier this month. According to Katz, Castro approached a 34-year-old man at approximately 3 a.m. while he was standing near a taco stand at the intersection of 77th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing. The defendant yelled, “I hate Latinos and f—-t people.”
Castro then cut the victim on his left cheek with a sharp object. He fled from the scene on the subway.
The victim needed multiple stitches to treat his wound.
“In pleading guilty earlier this month, the defendant accepted responsibility for violently assaulting a man based on his appearance and he has now been sentenced to prison as punishment for his criminal actions,” Katz said.
In Queens, there were 12 hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation, and only two committed based on ethnicity as of Oct. 18, 2021.
“Hate-motivated attacks will never be tolerated in Queens County, where we pride ourselves on our rich cultural diversity,” Katz said.
