Suffolk Police arrested a 13-year-old on a charge of assault as a hate crime. However, police said they won’t be arresting others who were involved in the attack.
Chazbir Singh told police he was walking through Walt Whitman Mall when a group of boys called him “Muhahmed” and punched him in the face. Singh fled and was chased by the group through the mall. According to Singh’s father, Satbir Singh, police initially dismissed the incident as a scuffle between juveniles.
Singh is a prominent community activist in Nassau. He doesn’t think police took the case seriously until he brought attention to it online. Also, he wants to know about the other kids involved.
“Why aren’t the kids being held accountable for everything they did. Only one kid gets arrested, what happens to the others? They walk away with it?” Singh said.
According to Singh, it was a group of six or seven. A boy who was not arrested threatened to knock his turban off and another recorded everything.
Suffolk police said they are not planning any more arrests at this time. In a statemen, they said that after a thorough investigation there "didn't appear to be a criminal acts by anyone other than the 13-year-old arrestee".
Because the teen arrested is a juvenile, his name was not provided by police. His attorney’s information is unknown.
The story has been updated with a more thorough statement from Suffolk County Police.
