NEW YORK — A woman who allegedly threw hot coffee and anti-Islamic statements at a parent at a Brooklyn playground has been arrested on hate crime charges, according to police.
The woman, identified as Hadasa Bozakkaravani, 48, was charged with nine separate charges following her arrest Tuesday, police said. Four of the charges were hate crimes. Bozakkaravani faces assault, reckless endangerment, aggravated harassment and assault on a person under 11, all hate crimes, according to police.
The district attorney’s office said Bozakkaravani was expected to be arraigned Tuesday morning or Tuesday morning.
The charges stem from an alleged incident at Edmonds Playground on DeKalb Avenue on Nov. 7. The father, Ashish Prashar, 40, was at the playground in Fort Greene with his 18-month-old son when the child fell. a boy playing basketball.
Prashar said a woman approached him and asked if he supported Hamas.
“She says, ‘You’re a terrorist,'” Prashar said earlier.
Prashar, a political activist and writer, wore an Arabic Keffiyeh scarf at the playground he visits daily with his son. He said he received the scarf as a gift a decade ago while working in the West Bank under then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
“It was a gift from a Palestinian-Christian to me,” Prashar said.
The woman threw her phone and then hot coffee at Prashar, who is of Indian descent, and his young son, police said.
“When I turned around, he threw hot coffee in my face, which if I hadn’t left it on the floor would have burned his face,” she said.
Prashar was not injured during the incident, police said. Prashar said the woman left when a passerby stepped in to help.
“No parent should feel unsafe taking their child to a playground because someone decides they are less than human,” he said.
2023-11-22 03:18:43
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