Dawood Faisal, 22, was indicted on hate crime charges Monday for allegedly vandalizing a Jewish-owned bagel shop in Queens twice before the fatal hit-and-run that killed a 71-year-old woman.
The Fresh Meadows man was already jailed on manslaughter charges in the May 25 death of Cara Trager on Union Parkway when the new indictment landed, the Queens District Attorney’s Office said. Prosecutors allege Faisal targeted Bagels & Co. Specifically because it displayed Israeli flags and banners.
Faisal first struck the shop shortly after 6:15 p.m. On May 15, knocking over nine metal plant stands outside and hurling the dirt at the building, according to prosecutors. He allegedly returned eight days later on May 23, pushing over and kicking 11 plant stands, throwing dirt, and uprooting greenery from a large clay pot to toss outside.
Two days after that second vandalism, Faisal allegedly sped through the neighborhood in his 2013 Toyota Prius at 75 mph in a 35 mph zone, running a red light on Francis Lewis Boulevard and striking Trager and her husband, Michael, who survived. Faisal fled but crashed the car, and bystanders held him until police arrived.
In June, Faisal was indicted on manslaughter and assault charges. Michael Trager then launched a campaign to have the fatal hit-and-run designated a hate crime, pointing to the vandalism incidents as evidence of anti-Jewish motive.
“What I am alleging was that he was in a Jewish area, a very heavy Jewish area,” Trager said.
“And though he did not necessarily try to kill Cara Trager or injure Michael Trager or kill Michael Trager for that matter, it was a good likelihood that if he was gonna do that activity, it’s going to be more than likely hurt a Jewish person,” he continued.
Faisal was arrested in July for the vandalism and indicted this week on the hate crime charges tied to those incidents.
“As alleged, Dawood Faisal, repeatedly targeted a Fresh Meadows business specifically because it is Jewish-owned and featured Israeli flags, and destroyed property as an expression of antisemitism,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement Monday.
“Bias crimes are an affront to our entire community and will not be tolerated,” she added.
The original crash killed Cara Trager, 71, and left her husband seeking justice through the hate crime designation he pursued publicly. The bagel shop vandalism and the fatal hit-andun occurred within days of each other in the same heavily Jewish neighborhood of Queens.
Faisal remains behind bars as the cases proceed.