UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A man was indicted on hate crime charges on Monday after a stabbing on the Upper West Side near two synagogues in late July, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.
According to officials, the suspect — 51-year-old Raul Morales — stabbed two people in separate attacks near Central Park on the Upper West Side before police arrested him at a nearby apartment building on the afternoon of July 23.
Law enforcement officials identified the first victim as 57-year-old Chok Sung, an Asian man.
Bragg said Sung was stabbed in the back with a knife at 1:30 p.m. near a synagogue near West 83rd Street and Central Park West.
The second victim, 50-year-old Moshe Yezhak Grunhaus, is Jewish. At 1:43 p.m., Grunhaus was stabbed in the chest with a screwdriver near a synagogue on West 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, Bragg said.
The suspect yelled "Allahu akbar" during both assaults, Bragg said.
"Raul Morales was allegedly motivated by antisemitism when he attacked two New Yorkers in broad daylight near two Upper West Side synagogues," Bragg said.
Following several 911 calls, NYPD officers tracked Morales back to his apartment, where he was arrested, Bragg said.
Both men were taken to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital, police said.
Sung arrived at the hospital with the knife still lodged in his back, which required surgery to remove, and Grunhaus had a puncture wound to his chest, Bragg said.
Bragg said that law enforcement had discovered antisemitic texts on Morales' phone.
Morales has been charged with four counts of attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of attempted first-degree assault and two counts of second-degree assault, all as hate crimes.
"This case is a prime example of how hate crimes make all of us less safe," Bragg said.
For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.
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