Queens Man Appears in Court for Slashing Man’s Face With Wooden Stake While Hurling Racist and Homophobic Slurs
Stephen M. Lepore, Daily Mail, March 1, 2022
A New York City man with 90 prior arrests appeared in court Tuesday on hate crime charges after he allegedly slashed a subway commuter’s face while hurling racist and homophobic slurs.
Ramon Castro, 55, appeared Tuesday morning before Queens Supreme Court Justice Toni Cimino on charges of assaults in the first and second degree as a hate crime, criminal possession of a weapon, aggravated harassment and possession of drugs.
Ramon Castro
The incident took place at around 3.10am on July 6 between Castro – who has more than 90 arrests on his record – and a 34-year-old victim who has not been identified. It came weeks after Castro was freed over a double burglary he is said to have carried out.
According to a press release from the district attorney’s office Ramon allegedly yelled: ‘I hate Latinos and f****t people’ at a man who was standing near a Subway station at the corner of 77th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, Queens.
Castro was being held on $250,000 bail. He’s scheduled to appear in court again on March 7.
Castro then allegedly attacked the innocent victim, cutting the man on his left cheek using a wooden stake.
Images of him taken in the wake of the alleged attack were shared by the New York Police Department afterwards.
The defendant then ran away from the scene and the victim was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center where he had to get sixteen stitches to close the wound on his face – eight on the outside of his cheek and eight on the inside.
Castro faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.
According to the NY Post Castro is homeless and was last released from custody in June after two alleged burglaries thanks to bail-reform laws.
Police busted him for allegedly breaking into a nightclub where he stole an ATM machine and then again when he robbed a bar, as reported by the Post.
He is being held on a $250,000 bail, city corrections records show.
When cops interviewed the suspect he allegedly said: ‘Homosexuals are OK but not when you’re an adult.’
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said of the hate crimes in a statement: ‘In Queens, we value our diversity. Attacking others because of their ethnicity or who they love is never acceptable.
‘It will not be tolerated here. We will now seek to bring this defendant to justice for his alleged hate crimes.’
