NEW YORK CITY Hate-crime case brings back racial wounds

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Yitzhak Shuchat, a white member of a civilian patrol group, and Andrew Charles, the black son of a police officer, came face to face in 2008 in a neighborhood with a history of racial strife — that much is certain.

But six years later, the circumstances of the encounter in Brooklyn are murky, even as prosecutors pursue charges against 28-year-old Shuchat alleging he attacked Charles because of his race. Shuchat’s supporters in the neighborhood’s Orthodox Jewish community are dismayed over what they call a hate-crime investigation gone awry.

Authorities “took a minor incident and made it into a very serious situation,” said state Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is Jewish.

The case got renewed attention last month when deputy U.S. Marshals retrieved Shuchat from Israel after he lost an extradition fight. He pleaded not guilty July 18 in a Brooklyn court to second-degree assault as a hate crime, attempted assault and other charges and was released on $300,000 bail put up by Jewish benefactors.