Category: News
Federal prosecutors filed two hate crime counts against Anna Mochalova on Oct. 28, escalating the case over two alleged attacks on Jewish men in Midtown Manhattan and exposing her to a maximum of 20 years in federal prison if convicted on both counts.
The charges stem from incidents on Oct. 21 in which Mochalova allegedly stabbed a 26-year-old rabbi in the lower back near the Diamond District, then attacked a 37-year-old Jewish man in the forearm near Sixth Avenue and West 45th Street. Federal authorities allege the victims were targeted because of their religion and that a sharp object was used.
Each federal count carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.
Federal charges add a new track
The federal complaint accuses Mochalova of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. It alleges that she willfully caused bodily injury to each victim, and attempted to cause bodily injury using a dangerous weapon, because of the victims’ actual or perceived race and religion.
The federal allegations arrive on top of state charges that had already drawn wide attention in Manhattan.
Mochalova, 32, is a Russian national from Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. She previously faced state-level charges that included felony assault, menacing and aggravated harassment. At her Oct. 25 arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court, bail was set at $50,000 cash or $150,000 bond. She claimed mistaken identity, and she had been due back in state court on Oct. 29.
Prosecutors outline two Midtown attacks
Federal authorities place the first alleged attack at about 5:50 p.m. on Oct. 21, on West 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues. The victim, identified in the complaint as a 26-year-old Jewish man, was walking through the area in traditional Orthodox Jewish attire when a woman allegedly followed him while speaking Russian.
The man told investigators he felt a sharp object jab into his lower back, like a needle prick. Prosecutors say surveillance video shows a woman approaching from behind and making a jabbing motion, after which the man flinches. The complaint alleges that Mochalova was the woman in the footage.
The second alleged attack occurred shortly afterward, about two blocks south, at Sixth Avenue and West 45th Street. Prosecutors say Mochalova approached two Jewish men who were standing together and wearing yarmulkes, bumped one of them repeatedly, and stabbed him in the right forearm with a sharp object.
The complaint further alleges that the woman told the victim, in substance, to run because she had a gun. She then asked the other man whether he was Jewish, according to prosecutors. When he said he was Muslim, she reportedly apologized and fled.
Evidence cited in the federal complaint
The complaint says investigators reviewed surveillance video from businesses near the first alleged attack and spoke with both victims. It also describes how authorities identified Mochalova as the person they believe appears in the footage.
According to the filing, the second victim identified the suspected attacker in surveillance footage shown to him the day after the incidents. Investigators also cited clothing and a ring seen in video and later observed during law enforcement interactions with Mochalova. The complaint says officers arrested her in Brooklyn on Oct. 24 in connection with a transit violation.
Mochalova’s defense may dispute the allegations or the evidence, and she is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Community concern and legal stakes
The alleged attacks have prompted concern among members of New York’s Jewish community, amid rising reported antisemitic incidents. The locations are in a busy Midtown corridor that includes the Diamond District, where Orthodox Jewish workers and business owners are a visible part of the neighborhood.
The federal hate crime charges focus on the alleged motive as well as the physical assaults. Prosecutors contend that the victims were targeted because they were Jewish, citing their religious attire and the reported exchange with the second victim’s companion. Those claims will be tested through the legal process.