The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating a case of criminal mischief in Bellerose during the afternoon of Sunday, April 20.
Police from the 105th Precinct in Queens Village reported that an unidentified man walked onto the victim’s property in the vicinity of Little Neck Parkway and Union Turnpike at 2:40 p.m. and removed four religious flags from the porch at the front of the house and discarded them in the garbage before running off in an unknown direction. A police spokesman said the flags represented the Hindu religion.
The NYPD released surveillance images of the suspect and described him as having a light complexion and a bald head. He was last seen wearing sunglasses, a dark jacket, a purple tie, a multi-colored shirt, a light-colored blazer, blue pants, black shoes, and a brown briefcase slung from his shoulder.
Anyone with information regarding this hate crime incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are confidential.
Through April 27, the 105th Precinct has reported two hate crimes so far in 2024, one more than the one case reported at the same point last year, an increase of 100%, according to the most recent CompStat report.
