Photo Credit: Google Maps
Vernon Stevens, 55, of Brooklyn, shouted “[expletive] Jews!” at a couple that was dressed in traditional Chassidic clothing around 10:15 PM on Thursday, near the corner of 45th Street and Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, The NY Post reported Saturday.
Police said they received an eyewitness account of the anti-Semitic harassment from two teenagers, 15, one from Brooklyn, the other from Queens, who did not know the couple but yelled back at Stevens as the latter was harassing them.
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The suspect then placed his fingers in front of one the teenagers’ face and called him, “[expletive] Jew!” according to cops who spoke to the NY Post.
Stevens was arrested about an hour later, at West 46th Street and Seventh Avenue, according to police, following a complaint that had been filed at the local precinct by the two boys. He was charged with aggravated harassment in the second-degree, harassment as a hate crime, and harassment in the first-degree.
Police said Stevens is a career criminal with more than 30 prior arrests for charges such as assault, criminal trespass, petite larceny, and harassment.
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