NEW YORK, N.Y. — A 32-year-old woman accused of cutting two Jewish men minutes apart in Midtown Manhattan was held on $50,000 bail after her Sunday arraignment, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said, as she faces hate crime counts in the case.
Anna Mochalova was arraigned in Manhattan criminal court. She is accused of hate crime assault, along with counts of weapon possession and aggravated harassment. NYPD officers took her into custody after surveillance cameras recorded the Wednesday evening attacks in the Diamond District, where jewelry shops line the blocks off Fifth Avenue.
Prosecutors say the first man, a 26-year-old Jewish man, was trailed on West 47th Street near Fifth Avenue at about 5:50 p.m. He then felt a sharp sting low on his back and was left with a cut. Investigators think the weapon was a syringe, though it was not known whether anything was inside it. He went to Bellevue and is expected to recover.
Roughly five minutes later and two blocks south, prosecutors say, a 37-year-old man wearing a yarmulke was struck from behind and cut on the arm. The woman then told him in Russian that she was armed and would shoot him, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors also say she walked up to a third man and asked whether he was Jewish. He answered that he is Muslim, and she said she was sorry and moved on, prosecutors say.
Her defense lawyer told the court that she holds a job, has never been arrested and may have been misidentified. The judge cited the surveillance footage in setting bail. Prosecutors had sought a higher bail. Her next hearing is set for later this week, while investigators keep reviewing video from both blocks.
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