Queens man facing manslaughter charges hit with hate crime allegations for bagel shop vandalism

A Queens man is facing hate crime charges after he allegedly vandalized Bagel & Co. on Union Turnpike. The same man is also accused of causing a crash that killed an elderly woman who was a leader in the local Jewish community. Photo via Google Maps

By Ryan Schwach

A Queens man already facing charges for allegedly killing an elderly woman in a car crash he caused is now facing hate crime charges for wrecking property outside a neighborhood bagel store that was flying Israeli flags.

Dawood Faisal, 22, allegedly knocked over multiple plant stands outside Bagel & Co. on Union Turnpike two separate times and threw dirt at the flags on one of the occasions.

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz is accusing Faisal of targeting the Jewish owned shop and its Israeli paraphernalia, destroying the plants outside as “an expression of antisemitism.”

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

Faisal was already facing 15 years in prison for manslaughter and assault charges for a collision that killed 71-year-old Cara Trager on Francis Lewis Boulevard in the days after the two bagel store-related incidents.

The first incident of vandalism occurred on May 15, when Faisal allegedly knocked over nine metal plant stands outside the kosher bagel shop, picking up dirt and chucking it at the store.

A little over a week later, on May 23, in the early hours of the morning, he knocked over 11 more plant stands and unsuccessfully attempted to kick over a large clay pot. When the kick didn’t work, he pulled the plant out of the dirt.

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

He faces seven years in prison for the bagel store vandalism.

Two days after the second incident of vandalism. Faisal allegedly sped through two red lights on Francis Lewis Boulevard, colliding with two cars, propelling one into a crosswalk where Trager and her husband were walking.

Trager, a journalist and member of the Queens Jewish community, sustained severe head trauma and later died as a result of her injuries.