The arsonist accused of firebombing a Mosque and a Hindu temple on New Years's Day has been indicted on hate crimes charges by the feds and the Queens district attorney.
Ray Lazier Lengend, 40, is also charged with throwing a Molotov cocktail into a deli in Jamaica where he had been caught shoplifting a week earlier and a private home in Queens Village, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
After his arrest, Lengend told detectives that he hated Muslims and planned to "take out as many Muslims and Arabs as possible.”
The New Year's Day rampage began with Lengend purchasing five glass Starbucks coffee bottles and filling them with gasoline at a service station.
He is accused of throwing a flaming bottle at the exterior wall of the Al-Khoei Benevolent Association mosque, then another one at a private home on 170th St., which doubles as a Hindu temple, authorities said.
This defendant allegedly sought to fan the flames of ethnic and religious tension," said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch.
The indictments were unsealed Monday in Queens Supreme Court and Brooklyn Federal Court. He was admitted to Bellevue Hospital for psychiatric evaluation and is scheduled to be arraigned next week.
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