Driver Repeatedly Crashes into New York Synagogue
Authorities in New York City, including the Police Department and the Department of Justice, are looking into what could be a hate crime. This comes after a vehicle crashed multiple times into the entrance of Chabad-Lubavitch’s world headquarters in Brooklyn on Wednesday.
In another incident late Wednesday night in Queens, a 36-year-old man named Yogesh Sirenji was arrested after allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails at two places of worship and a nearby commercial building. Law enforcement reported that he was found with more incendiary devices in his possession.
Sirenji is believed to have targeted Grecia Bautista El Mesias church in Ozone Park around 11 p.m. Surveillance cameras captured him conversing with three other individuals before he lit a Molotov cocktail and tossed it toward the church’s entrance. Footage shows the bottle igniting near the front door before Sirenji left the scene.
Additionally, fire officials confirmed a report of an incendiary device being hurled into the church shortly after 11:57 p.m. The fire marshal and police are currently investigating these incidents.
According to police, after the first incident, Sirenji walked just under a mile to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Woodhaven, where he allegedly launched another Molotov cocktail at the building’s door, sparking another fire. The fire department received a subsequent alert shortly after midnight regarding this second attack.
No injuries or significant damage were reported from either church. However, police later linked Sirenji to a third Molotov cocktail thrown at an ambulance service building nearby around the same time, also resulting in no injuries or damage.
Officers detained Sirenji around 12:10 a.m. on Thursday, confiscating two additional Molotov cocktails from his backpack. Investigators are exploring whether he is connected to similar incidents that have occurred since last month, though no further details have been released by authorities.
Sirenji faced federal charges on Thursday for throwing an incendiary device at a Brooklyn store on June 25, as reported.
