NYC man already charged with manslaughter now indicted for hate crime at kosher bagel shop

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Monday that Dawood Faisal, a 22-year-old Queens man already facing manslaughter charges over a May crash that killed Jewish journalist Cara Trager, had been indicted on hate crime charges for allegedly vandalizing a kosher bagel shop displaying Israeli flags.

According to prosecutors, Faisal targeted Bagels & Co. on Union Turnpike in Fresh Meadows on two occasions in May, knocking over plant stands outside the Jewish-owned business and, during one incident, throwing dirt and debris toward Israeli flags and the front of the store.

“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,” Katz said. “Bias crimes are an affront to our entire community and will not be tolerated.”

Faisal was arraigned Monday on an indictment charging him with two counts of third-degree criminal mischief as a hate crime. Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Hartofilis ordered him to return to court on November 12.

He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors said the first incident took place on May 15 at around 6:18 p.m., when Faisal allegedly knocked over nine metal plant stands outside the kosher shop, which had numerous Israeli flags and banners on display. After spilling dirt and plants onto the sidewalk, he allegedly picked up some of the debris and twice threw it at the business.

Faisal allegedly returned to the store in the early hours of May 23 and pushed or kicked over 11 metal plant stands, again spilling their contents onto the sidewalk. Prosecutors said he also tried unsuccessfully to kick over a large clay pot before manually pulling out the plants inside it.

The investigation was carried out by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force together with the Queens District Attorney’s Hate Crimes Bureau.

The alleged vandalism had previously prompted neighborhood residents and Jewish community activists to rally at Bagels & Co. in a show of solidarity with the business. Faisal was initially arraigned on hate crime and criminal mischief charges over the incidents earlier this year.

Separately, Faisal was indicted in June on manslaughter, assault and other charges stemming from a May crash that killed 71-year-old Cara Trager and injured her husband.

Prosecutors alleged that Faisal sped through two red lights on Francis Lewis Boulevard before crashing into two vehicles, sending one of them into a crosswalk where the couple was walking.

According to the earlier case against him, Faisal had allegedly been traveling at more than 75 miles per hour in a 35-mph zone and tried to flee the scene on foot after the crash, before being detained by passersby. Authorities have not alleged that the fatal crash itself was a hate crime, and there did not appear to be a direct connection between the collision and the vandalism case.

Trager was a Queens-based journalist and a prominent member of the local Jewish community. She supported Jewish institutions including the Solomon Schechter School of Queens and her family’s synagogue, Etz Hayim at Hollis Hills Bayside.

Her husband, Michael Trager, told the New York Post last month that the location of the crash raised questions for him as to whether antisemitism may have played some role, while acknowledging that he was not alleging Faisal deliberately tried to kill his wife.

“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.”

Trager also told the Post that he wanted to meet with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and urge him to speak out against antisemitism.

“I want to see that he cares… I want to see that my fellow Jews can live safely and peacefully in a city,” Trager said.

Jews are targeted in hate crimes in New York City more than all other groups combined.