Carteret man arrested for attacking Brooklyn synagogue with car

✡️A Carteret man is accused of repeatedly ramming his car into a Brooklyn synagogue

✡️Police charged Dan Sohail with hate crimes

✡️Security was increased at 'sensitive places' in New Jersey

CARTERET — A New Jersey man was identified as the driver who rammed his car into a Brooklyn synagogue on Wednesday night.

Dan Sohail, 36, drove his 2012 Honda Accord into the entrance of the Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish movement headquarters in the Crown Heights section around 8:45 p.m., NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Thursday. Officers saw Sohail hit the entrance, back up and hit it again for a total of five times before police stopped him.

Kenny said that Sohail attended a "social gathering" at the synagogue in December and was attempting to "connect" with the Lubavitch community. Kenny said security footage shows that Sohail had parked his car a few blocks from the synagogue, then moved several barricades from a driveway and snow from a sidewalk before ramming the building.

Sohail told officers at the scene that his foot had "slipped." He blamed "clunky boots" for causing him to lose control of the vehicle, Kenny said. Video of the incident reviewed by ABC 7 Eyewitness News shows that he got out of his car wearing only a shirt and shorts and spat at the gathered crowd.

Charges against Dan Sohail

Sohail is charged with first- and second-degree attempted assault, reckless endangerment as a hate crime, criminal mischief and aggravated assault all as hate crimes, according to Kenny.

"The hate crime is that he attacked a Jewish institution" that is clearly marked, Kenny said.

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Authorities cite mental health history, boost security

Scott Richman, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, told ABC 7 Eyewitness News that he had gone to several Chabad communities in New Jersey that were not "accepting" of him and was lashing out.

On Nov. 4, police in South Brunswick encountered Sohail speaking with the rabbi outside the South Brunswick Chabad on Riva Avenue.

Police said Sohail "indicated that he was homeless and upset about his life situation."

"Officers believed Mr. Sohail may have been suffering a mental health issue and a mental health counselor was contacted," a South Brunswick police spokesman said Friday after the Brooklyn arrest. "The counselor determined that Mr. Sohail did not require hospitalization. Mr. Sohail did not commit any criminal activity and left the scene in his vehicle without further incident."

Sohail has no criminal history in New York, according to Kenny. New Jersey court records show a 2008 shoplifting charge in Middlesex County. The charge was knocked down to loitering in 2009.

NBC New York reported that law enforcement sources say Sohail has a history of "mental health issues." Besides the recent visit to the Lubavitch headquarters, he also spent two weeks in Israel at the end of December.

Before Sohail had been identified, New Jersey Acting Attorney General Jennifer Davenport ordered police to increase police presence around “sensitive places" even though there was no known threat in New Jersey.