aDYiNGdream
Aspiring Mutawakkil
Hispanic Muslim woman was target of bias crime
Thursday, May 17, 2007
By MICHAEL J. FEENEY
STAFF WRITER
LITTLE FALLS — A township man has been charged with committing a bias
crime after allegedly shouting racial slurs at a Hispanic Muslim woman
while he sat in traffic on a busy roadway, police said.
David Liscio, 32, was driving his black pickup truck on Main Street and
began yelling derogatory names targeted at the woman’s gender and
ethnicity, Officer John Moncato said.
The accuser was with her 3-year-old daughter taking laundry out of her
car when she noticed a white male shouting at her, said Harley Breite,
her lawyer.
The berating continued and garnered the attention of other motorists,
who came over to the woman to see if she was OK, Breite said.
“This is a horribly flagrant act of racism and discrimination that no
civilization can tolerate,” he said. “We’re thankful that there were
concerned citizens that came to her aid.”
The woman quickly wrote down Liscio’s license plate while he continued
to yell obscenities around 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Breite said. She filed
the complaint with the township police on Sunday.
According to a police report, township Bias Incident Officer Arthur Katz
approached Liscio outside his apartment Monday morning and asked him
about the alleged incident. According to the police report, Liscio
admitted calling the woman a name, but said, “I didn’t say anything
threatening to her.”
A message left for Liscio at his Main Street apartment was not
immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.
The incident remains under investigation by the Bias Crimes Unit of the
Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office.
Liscio has not been arrested in connection with the incident, police
investigators said.
New Jersey laws require that the local Prosecutor’s Office be notified
immediately of the occurrence of any bias- or hate-motivated crime of
violence. The unit works closely with local law enforcement to provide
legal and investigative assistance.
Breite said his client is still very nervous and distraught, and is
contemplating moving out of town.
“She’s going to need counseling now,” he said. “She’s afraid to leave
her house.”
Thursday, May 17, 2007
By MICHAEL J. FEENEY
STAFF WRITER
LITTLE FALLS — A township man has been charged with committing a bias
crime after allegedly shouting racial slurs at a Hispanic Muslim woman
while he sat in traffic on a busy roadway, police said.
David Liscio, 32, was driving his black pickup truck on Main Street and
began yelling derogatory names targeted at the woman’s gender and
ethnicity, Officer John Moncato said.
The accuser was with her 3-year-old daughter taking laundry out of her
car when she noticed a white male shouting at her, said Harley Breite,
her lawyer.
The berating continued and garnered the attention of other motorists,
who came over to the woman to see if she was OK, Breite said.
“This is a horribly flagrant act of racism and discrimination that no
civilization can tolerate,” he said. “We’re thankful that there were
concerned citizens that came to her aid.”
The woman quickly wrote down Liscio’s license plate while he continued
to yell obscenities around 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Breite said. She filed
the complaint with the township police on Sunday.
According to a police report, township Bias Incident Officer Arthur Katz
approached Liscio outside his apartment Monday morning and asked him
about the alleged incident. According to the police report, Liscio
admitted calling the woman a name, but said, “I didn’t say anything
threatening to her.”
A message left for Liscio at his Main Street apartment was not
immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.
The incident remains under investigation by the Bias Crimes Unit of the
Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office.
Liscio has not been arrested in connection with the incident, police
investigators said.
New Jersey laws require that the local Prosecutor’s Office be notified
immediately of the occurrence of any bias- or hate-motivated crime of
violence. The unit works closely with local law enforcement to provide
legal and investigative assistance.
Breite said his client is still very nervous and distraught, and is
contemplating moving out of town.
“She’s going to need counseling now,” he said. “She’s afraid to leave
her house.”
.