A man accused of assaulting people at Central Synagogue in Midtown Manhattan during Shabbat services is reported to have punched a congregant, headbutted security staff, and spit at a guard, according to NYPD accounts cited by outlets.
Both reports say the incident occurs Friday evening at the synagogue on Lexington Avenue near East 55th Street. One outlet adds that police say the suspect, Larry Montes, 46, is alleged to have also attacked a 63-year-old woman and a 65-year-old security guard, while disrupting services. The reports frame the attack as antisemitic. They differ mainly in how they describe specific moments and the breadth of alleged actions, but they describe the same general event and locations.
Police identify the suspect as Montes, and authorities are investigating the incident as a hate-motivated assault, based on the outlets’ accounts of NYPD statements and sourcing.
