The driver repeatedly visited a NY synagogue
The New York Police Department and the Department of Justice are investigating a possible hate crime after a car broke into the front door of Chabad-Lubavitch’s world headquarters in Brooklyn on Wednesday. (Daniel David Yeroshalmi via Storyful)
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A man was sentenced Wednesday to six months and a week in prison for breaking into his car at the Chabad Lubavitch World headquarters in January, damaging the side door.
Dan Sohail, 36, of New Jersey, was sentenced in federal court in Brooklyn, where he was also ordered to pay $20,000 in restitution. This sentence will allow Sohail, who has spent six months in custody, to be released in about a week.
Sohail was charged with willful destruction of religious property, and pleaded guilty in May.
Prosecutors recommended a 14-month sentence, which would have kept Sohail in prison for about eight more months, but the judge rejected the request. Prosecutors sought the long sentence as a deterrent to future attacks on Jewish institutions amid a surge in hate crimes.
DRIVER RAMS VEHICLE AGAIN INTO DOORS IN NYC JEWISH AREA, ARRESTED ON SUSPICION
Dan Sohail was sentenced to six months and a week in prison for breaking into his car at the Chabad Lubavitch World headquarters. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
On Jan. 28, Sohail repeatedly rammed his car into the Chabad Lubavitch Worldquarters headquarters. He removed the security barriers, signaled for the worshipers to get out of the way and drove his car into the entrance of the building five times, took the door off its hinges and destroyed the front bumper of his car.
While the doors were damaged, no injuries were reported.
Judge Eric N. Vitaliano said he was “disappointed” that the Justice Department wanted him to be swayed in sentencing because of the public’s initial misconception that the attack was a hate crime.
Prosecutors said before handing down the sentence that 80 of the 146 hate crimes across New York City since the beginning of the year were based on crimes against Jewish people and institutions.
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Judge Eric N. Vitaliano said he was “disturbed” to see that the DOJ had tried to sway him with the public’s initial misconception that the attack was a hate crime. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
But Vitaliano said the government’s push for a tougher sentence as a deterrent to future attacks is based in part on what has been called a “hate-the-Jews crime, or, worse, a criminal act.”
Citing a psychiatric report, the judge said Sohail’s mental health challenges “played a significant role” in his sentencing.
“This is a sad story,” Vitaliano said.
Sohail’s lawyer, Mia Eisner-Grynberg, said he was trying to gain admission to a Jewish institution as he suffers from mental health problems.
Dan Sohail was charged with willful destruction of religious property, and pleaded guilty in May. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
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Eisner-Grynberg told the judge in court papers before sentencing that Sohail was battling depression and post-traumatic stress disorder when he carried out the attack, as he “wanted to gain understanding through his exploration of Judaism.”
He said Sohail went to Chabad, which he later attacked, and found the rabbis there “warm and welcoming.”
Sohail “danced with them” and followed their recommendations to visit Israel, but became anxious after returning to the US, “begging” Chabad members for help, Eisner-Grynberg said.
Crashing a car into a building was “a senseless cry for help,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
