2 Accused Of Hate Crime Assault On UPS Driver: Ramapo Police

MONTEBELLO, NY — A UPS driver was assaulted Saturday afternoon in Montebello, and Ramapo police have accused two men, including a Clarkstown resident, of hate crimes, attempted robbery and assault.

The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said it welcomed hate crime charges for the alleged bias-motivated assault.

Police said the driver was not white but would not identify his race, CAIR officials said.

"We welcome the hate crime charges in this case and thank law enforcement authorities for their actions in apprehending the suspects," CAIR-NY Executive Director Afaf Nasher said in a news release after reading about the incident on Patch. "We call on local, state and national leaders to speak out against the growing bigotry nationwide targeting minority communities. As we have seen all too often, bigoted views can turn into violent actions."

She said CAIR and the American Muslim community stand in solidarity with all those challenging antisemitism, systemic anti-Black racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, white supremacy, and all other forms of bigotry.

Police said the man was in his delivery truck on Spook Rock Road at 4:15 p.m. he was struck by a water bottle that had been thrown at him. Then two people physically attacked him while using racial slurs and attempted to steal the keys to the truck, police said.

New City resident Yitzchok Zucker, 31, has been charged with second-degree attempted robbery as a hate crime and second-degree attempted assault as a hate crime, Ramapo police said.

Moshe Pepper, a 31-year-old from Mad River, California, has been charged with second-degree attempted robbery as a hate crime, second-degree attempted assault as a hate crime, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and second-degree harassment, Ramapo police said.