Police: Man arrested after allegedly attacking Sikh man with hammer at hotel
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NEW YORK (WCBS) — A man who allegedly struck a Sikh man in the head with a hammer at Brooklyn hotel has been arrested.
Police on Tuesday announced the arrest of 27-year-old Latif Gina, of Brooklyn.
The incident happened on April 26 at the Quality Inn on Osborn Street in Brownsville.
The victim, 32-year-old Sumit Ahluwalia, told CBS2’s Kiran Dhillon that the man had entered the lobby and began yelling at him and the front desk staff before spitting in his face three times.
“I came moving back and said, ‘Hey brother, what happened?’ [He said,] ‘You’re not my brother. You’re not the same skin. I don’t like you,’” Ahluwalia said.
Ahluwalia, who is the operations manager at the hotel, suffered minor injuries to his head, including internal bleeding. He is expected to be OK.
Police say Gina has been charged with assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.
There were calls over the weekend for the attack to be investigated as a hate crime with community members saying Ahluwalia may have been targeted because he was wearing a turban.
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