New York woman charged with pepper-spraying Muslim Uber driver as he prayed
A New York woman has been charged with assault as a hate crime after she allegedly pepper-sprayed her Muslim Uber driver as he praying at a red light, prosecutors said Thursday.
A New York woman has been charged with assault as a hate crime after she allegedly pepper-sprayed her Muslim Uber driver as he praying at a red light, prosecutors said Thursday.
Jennifer Guilbeault, 23, allegedly launched the “anti-Muslim” attack on July 31, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said in a news release Monday.
She was in the backseat of an Uber with another individual at 12:15 a.m. when she allegedly lunged forward towards the driver seat with a can of pepper spray and sprayed the driver, 45, in the face after he began praying in Arabic at a red light near East 65th Street and Lexington Avenue in the Upper East Side, officials said.
The spray caused “burning, redness and pain,” the release said. A few minutes later the driver called 911 and Guilbeault was arrested at the scene.
Guilbeault has been charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with second-degree assault as a hate crime, third-degree assault as a hate crime, and second-degree aggravated harassment.
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