SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida man faced a judge after he was accused of targeting members of the Jewish community multiple times.
Police on Sunday said 39-year-old Mohammad Ali Alsaccal threatened victims who were wearing traditional Orthodox Jewish clothing in Sunny Isles Beach on at least three separate occasions.
Alsaccal was charged with hates crimes and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He is also accused of yelling antisemitic insults.
Investigators said the victims were either walking to or from temple when the suspect approached them and pulled out a weapon, possibly a knife or screwdriver.
“He was approaching groups of Jewish community members that were either on there way to worship or coming back from worship, and he went ahead and hold, some type of silver, sharp object and basically, in many of the case, he went ahead and charged at them, telling them that they’re the devil, that Jews must die,” said Sunny Isles Police Sgt. Melissa Porro.
He was charged in three separate case with six victims in total.
All three instances happened near synagogues in the area of Collins Avenue and 178th Street on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which was the last day when he was caught and cuffed.
“When he did commit the the final and last incident, our officers located him immediately, placed him under arrest and he’s now sitting in jail with no bond,” Porro said. “We have zero tolerance for hate in our community and we will take action.”
Police said that when they arrested Alsaccal on Saturday, the sharp object that he was carrying was a silver pen.
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