Muslim driver attacked
Published:Thursday | August 26, 2010 | 12:00 AM
NEW YORK (AP):
A drunken passenger riding in a New York City taxi cab attacked the driver after asking him if he was Muslim, police reported yesterday.
The driver told police that when he answered yes, the man pulled out a folding hand tool, reached into the front seat and slashed him.
The attacker, Michael Enright, was arrested Tuesday night on charges including attempted murder as a hate crime, said Deputy Inspector Kim Royster, a New York Police Department spokeswoman.
The driver was treated for cuts to the throat, upper lip, forearm and thumb, Royster said.
The 21-year-old Enright, of suburban Brewster, New York, was expected to appear Wednesday in court in Manhattan. The name of his lawyer was not immediately available.
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance identified the victim as Ahmed H. Sharif, a yellow cab driver for 15 years.