NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A 21-year-old man and 18-year-old woman were arraigned on hate crime assault charges Tuesday night for a racist attack on an Asian woman, her son and a bystander who tried to intervene, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Natalie Plaza allegedly called the 44-year-old woman an “ugly Asian” from the passenger seat of an SUV driven by Elijah Fernandez on Junction Boulevard near Roosevelt Avenue in Corona around 2:30 p.m. on March 2.
She threw water on the woman from the window before exiting the car, dragging the woman to the ground and beating her, authorities claim.
The woman’s 24-year-old son and a 44-year-old man tried to intervene, but Hernandez and another man who was in the car allegedly started attacking them.
As the three assailants fled in the SUV, the car came dangerously close to hitting the woman they had just attacked, according to prosecutors.
The woman and her son were taken to a local hospital for treatment.
“In the most diverse county in the country, perhaps the most diverse place in the world, there is zero tolerance for hate,” said Katz. “We will not allow our values to be threatened with violence.”
Fernandez and Plaza were charged with hate crime assault, aggravated harassment and related charges.
They each face up to four years in prison if convicted.
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