West Village Butcher Accused Of Giving Noose To Black Deliveryman Avoids Hate Crime Charge

WEST VILLAGE, NY — A West Village butcher accused of handing a noose to a black delivery man will not be charged with a hate crime.

Manhattan's district attorney charged Joe Ottomanelli with just one misdemeanor harassment charge after he turned himself into the NYPD precinct with his lawyer Wednesday. Police had suggested he be charged with harassment as a hate crime, which carries a harsher sentence.

The delivery man, Victor Sheppard, told police that Ottomanelli handed him a noose made of rope and said, "Here is your gift. You can put it around your neck and pull if you want to end it all. If you are feeling stressed out. I can help you with it," according to the criminal complaint.

Have you been a victim to or have witnessed a hate crime? Tell your story here.

Ottomanelli then shoved the noose into Sheppard's upper body, he said. Ottomanelli, who runs his family's famed West Village butcher shop Ottomanelli & Sons on Bleecker Street, was released on his own recognizance.

Sheppard, 36, also told detectives that about a week earlier, the butcher told him: "It wasn't so long ago that your people couldn't sit in the front of the bus."

According to guidance published by New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman, the harassment charge could send Ottomanelli to jail for a year. A hate crime charge would make the harassment a felony and likely add a harsher sentence.

A source close to the investigation said prosecutors believed the aggravated harassment charge was the most appropriate.

Ottomanelli's attorney, famed civil rights lawyer Ron Kuby, did not immediately return a message from Patch seeking comment.

Lead image via Google Maps.