Ramon Castro, 55, has been charged with assault as a hate crime and other charges for slashing a man in the face after using homophobic and racial slurs. The incident took place on July 6, 2021 near a subway train station in Flushing, Queens.
District Attorney Melinda Katz said, “I will not tolerate those who target others because of their ethnicity or who they love. We are better than that. Queens prides itself on being part of a City that holds accountable those who think they can divide us. Not here.”
Castro, of Plimpton Avenue in the Bronx, was arraigned last night before Queens Criminal Court Judge Jerry Iannece on a complaint charging him with assault in the second degree as a hate crime, menacing in the second degree as a hate crime and aggravated harassment in the second degree. Judge Iannece ordered the defendant to return to court on July 20, 2021. If convicted, the defendant faces up to 15 years in prison.
District Attorney Katz said that, at approximately 3:00 a.m. on July 6, 2021, the defendant was in front of a subway station near the intersection of 77th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, Queens. The defendant allegedly approached a man and yelled, “I hate Latinos and f—-t people.”
Continuing, according to the charges, the 34-year-old victim was cut on the left cheek by a sharp object brandished by the defendant, who then fled the scene on foot.
The victim was taken to a local hospital where he received both external and internal stitches to treat his facial wound.
The New York Post reported: Police said he had been arrested more than 90 times in the past, including in late June, when he was busted for allegedly burglarizing a nightclub, where he stole an ATM machine, and burglarizing a bar, according to criminal complaints.
A rep with the Queens District Attorney’s Office said Castro was released without bail on both charges of third-degree burglary. A source familiar with the matter said the move was thanks to bail-reform laws that prevented the judge from requiring bail.
