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INWOOD, New York – Nassau County police have arrested a 36-year-old Inwood man accused of making antisemitic threats and handgun gestures toward a mother, her 7-year-old daughter and other shoppers at Bingo Wholesale on Sunday. The arrest updates the earlier report that police were searching for the man after the disturbance.
Police identified the defendant as Hasani Ferguson and said officers located him on Sheridan Avenue in Inwood at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 8, placing him under arrest without further incident. The reported encounter inside the store occurred at about 10:35 a.m. that day, according to the department’s November 9 police release.
Detectives said a 34-year-old woman and her daughter were shopping at Bingo Wholesale, 603 Burnside Avenue, when a man they did not know confronted them. Police allege Ferguson held out his hands in the shape of a handgun, made sounds imitating gunshots and moved closer to them while making antisemitic statements.
The police account says he then ran out of the store shouting threats against Jews while continuing shooting gestures and sounds toward other shoppers before fleeing. The release describes gestures and imitated gunfire; it does not report a firearm or a shooting, and it does not report any injuries.
Ferguson is charged with Making a Threat of Mass Harm, Menacing in the Third Degree and Disorderly Conduct. Police said he was scheduled to be arraigned Monday, November 9, at First District Court in Hempstead. The release does not give the result of that court appearance.
The charges are allegations, and Ferguson is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The department’s release does not list a hate-crime charge. The antisemitic nature of the alleged statements is described in the police account; it should not be confused with a separate charging decision that the release does not announce.
The arrest is the main change since the initial report on Sunday. The account above is based on the police department’s subsequent statement, replacing the earlier description of an active search and unconfirmed witness accounts. Further court findings, any plea and the outcome of the case are not established by the arrest announcement.
JBizNews Desk | Inwood, New York
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