MONSEY- Police: No Hate Crime Charges In Rock Attack Against Satmar School-Bus

There will be no hate-crime charge stemming from a rock-throwing incident at South Main Street on Friday that sent a boy to the hospital.

Spring Valley police have already charged a 12-year-old boy with second-degree reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor.

He is accused of throwing a rock at a school bus on South Main Street about 12:30 p.m., police said.

The bus was carrying 9- and 10-year-old boys from the United Talmudical Academy, a Satmar Hasidic Jewish school on Madison Avenue in the village.

The rock shattered a window and one 9-year-old boy was cut on the head by glass. The boy was taken to Westchester Medical Center for surgery, said Shmul Orlanski, the academy’s transportation director.

The boy was released Sunday.

Police Chief Paul Modica said Sunday that the department had interviewed the 12-year-old Saturday and declined to charge him with a hate crime.

The 12-year-old, who has not been identified because of his age, told police he was playing with a group of friends when the incident occurred and did not mean to hit the bus. He is due in Family Court this week.

For police and prosecutors to charge a hate crime, they would have to be able to prove the rock thrower was at least targeting the bus based on the occupants’ race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.

Several spokesmen in Spring Valley’s Hasidic Jewish community have said they believe the incident was racially motivated.

By Alex Taylor  - LoHud.com,