(Oct. 26, 2026 / JNS)
Anna Mochalova, the Brooklyn woman arrested following two assaults on visibly Jewish men in Midtown Manhattan last week, was arraigned on hate-crime charges, the Manhattan district attorney’s office told JNS on Monday.
Mochalova, 32, faces two counts of second-degree assault as a hate crime, one count of second-degree menacing as a hate crime, and two counts each of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree aggravated harassment, according to the complaint supplied to JNS.
The complaint alleges that she assaulted two men wearing Jewish religious clothing on Oct. 21.
The 37-year-old victim attacked near West 45th Street and Avenue of the Americas reported that Mochalova pushed into him from behind several times before he felt a painful sting in his right forearm. She then told him in Russian that she had a gun and would shoot him, and gestured toward the inside of her jacket, according to the complaint.
The same victim reported that she asked another man whether he was Jewish, then apologized and walked away when he said he was Muslim.
The 37-year-old declined medical attention at the scene, according to the NYPD’s earlier account to JNS.
A police officer identified Mochalova from a surveillance still based on previous interactions with her, according to the complaint.
A judge set bail at $50,000 cash or $150,000 through an insurance company bond or partially secured surety bond. Mochalova’s next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 29.
Police previously told JNS that Mochalova was arrested at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday within the confines of the Midtown North Precinct. The NYPD had initially provided arrest-stage charges without specifying whether any included hate-crime enhancements.
The 26-year-old victim of the West 47th Street stabbing was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, police told JNS. Surveillance footage viewed by JNS appeared to show the attacker approaching the visibly Jewish victim from behind, stabbing him and fleeing.
CrownHeights.info identified the victim of the West 47th Street stabbing as Yosef, a 26-year-old Chabad rabbinical student from Crown Heights, and reported that he returned to the Diamond District the following day to help Jewish merchants and workers put on tefillin.
