West Village Butcher Arrested On Hate Crimes Charge, NYPD Says

WEST VILLAGE, NY — A West Village butcher who handed a black delivery man a noose was charged with harassment as a hate crime Wednesday, police said,

Joe Ottomanelli, a butcher at his family's famed Bleecker Street meat shop Ottomanelli and Sons, turned himself into police with a lawyer, an NYPD spokeswoman told Patch. He was also charged with aggravated harassment and harassment in the second degree.

Delivery man Victor Sheppard told police Ottomanelli handed him a noose last month while he was working and offered to help him hang himself. According to Sheppard's account, Ottomanelli said, "If you ever have any stress, just put it around your neck and pull it. I could even help you with it."

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Sheppard, 36, told the New York Daily News at the time that he went directly to the nearest NYPD station house and reported the incident.

"I started shaking," Sheppard told the Daily News. "He was laughing. I don’t know what kind of joke that is."

Ottomanelli told the Daily News, "We were just fooling around."

The National Action Network, a civil rights organization, organized a rally in support of Sheppard in the wake of the reported crime. Rev. Kevin McCall, an organizer with the network, said the group was waiting to see what charges the Manhattan district attorney's officer would ultimately prosecute.

"We can't claim victory. This is just step one," McCall told Patch. "We're going to wait to see what the district attorney actually charges him with."

Ottomanelli has not yet been arraigned on Wednesday at 12 p.m.

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Patch was not able to contact Ottomanelli's attorney on Wednesday morning. A person who answered the phone at the shop declined to comment on Ottomanelli's arrest.

This post has been updated with additional information.

Lead image via Google Maps.