Police believe that a man who set a Muslim woman's blouse on fire on Saturday may have attacked at least three other women that night, and that he isn't acting alone.
After a 35-year-old Muslim woman's blouse was set ablaze on Saturday night, the NYPD launched a Hate Crimes Task Force investigation. According to cops, Nemariq Alhinai was approached by five people—three men and two women—outside of the Valentino boutique at 693 Fifth Avenue around 8:58 p.m. Alhinai claims she "felt something warm on her left arm" and realized the left sleeve of her blouse was on fire. As she patted down the fire, she noticed a man standing next to her holding a lighter in his hand.
Police released surveillance footage of the suspect, who was seen wearing a black shirt and black pants at the time of the attack outside Tiffany & Co. Near the end of the video, another man in a white T-shirt can be seen.
On Wednesday, an NYPD spokesperson told Gothamist that the Hate Crimes Task Force was "still looking into it, but it looks like it may not be bias-related." According to cops, there were four additional incidents on the same night.
Earlier at, 8;45 p.m., the group approached a woman outside 727 Fifth Avenue, and a male in a white t-shirt held a lighter near her leg. The group then continued south on Ffith Avenue.
(via NYPD)
At approximately 8:00 p.m., a teenage girl and her mother were walking together when a "male with a group of others" approached the pair and attempted to set the girl's shirt on fire before being chased away by her mother. The alleged attack occurred in front of 127 West 42nd Street.
Then, at approximately 8:59 p.m., a female victim claims her skirt was set on fire by a group that passed by at the intersection of 5th Avenue and East 54th Street.
Around 10:00 p.m., two women said they were approached by a man on the D/F platform at Bryant Park. Both women allegedly "had a flame placed near their respective arms," but neither was injured. The assailant, who was described by victims as approximately 6'0" tall and wearing a white t-shirt and headphones, fit the description of the attacker in the other incidents. According to the victims, he and a group of others fled as the women boarded a Queens-bound F train.
Photos released by the NYPD show one man and three other women, one of whom seems to be carrying a black duffel bag, with the attackers. No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information in regards to the above incidents is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577.
