A 13-year-old Huntington Station boy has been arrested in
connection to a hate crime, police say.
The suspect is accused of punching another teen and making
biased comments at the Walt Whitman Shops Saturday.
The incident involved two groups of teens.
The victim, Chazbir Bedi Singh, is Sikh and wears a turban.
He says the other teens called him Mohammad and made other
anti-Sikh comments while punching him in the face.
“We shouldn’t be targeted for anything that is different
about you than everybody else,” Singh says. “Nobody should be targeted for
anything at all.”
Satbir Singh, Chazbir's father, says he hopes his son's attackers learn a lesson. Satbir says he thinks the other kids should be held accountable also.
However, police say their investigation has failed to show a criminal act by anyone other than the 13-year-old arrested.
Police issued a statement that says in part, "A thorough investigation was launched prior to the victim's decision to pursue charges. The investigation resulted in the arrest of a 13-year-old juvenile and thus far, has failed to show a criminal act by anyone other than the 13-year-old arrestee."
The suspect has
been charged with aggravated assault as a hate crime.