Man arrested for assaulting, threatening Jewish people with "sharp object" in Sunny Isles Beach
SUNNY ISLES BEACH — A man was arrested for allegedly assaulting and threatening members of the Jewish community in Sunny Isles Beach during multiple separate incidents over the weekend.
In a Sunday press release, Sunny Isles Beach Police announced the arrest of 39-year-old Mohammad Ali Alsaccal, who was reportedly involved in at least three separate incidents targeting Jewish people where he brandished a weapon and made threats to harm them.
He is currently facing various charges, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and harassing or intimidating based on religious or ethnic heritage with credible threats. According to police, Alsaccal identified himself as a Jordanian citizen, though it is unclear if he is also a U.S. citizen.
"In two of the incidents, Alsaccal willfully and intentionally targeted his victims based on the religious clothing they were wearing," police stated. "The victims in these incidents were wearing traditional orthodox Jewish clothing."
In roughly four days, Alsaccal went on to "terrorize" the city's Jewish community, SIBPD added.
First reported on Thursday around 11:09 p.m. in the area of 17000 North Bay Road. According to police, the victim was walking his dog when he was approached by Alsaccal, who displayed a "blunt shiny weapon" — presumed to be either a knife or screwdriver — and proceeded to it at him.
He then began "aggressively walking" toward the victim before the victim was able to run away from Alsaccal and call the police. Alsaccal fled the scene before officers arrived and the victim was not injured during the incident.
The second incident was reported on Friday around 7:28 p.m. in the area of 18900 Collins Avenue. According to police, four victims were walking back from attending a religious service at their temple when they observed Alsaccal holding what appeared to be a "sharp cutting object" and walking toward them.
He then walked past the group before suddenly turning back, raising the sharp object and running toward them, yelling at the group "Get out of my way, I'm going to stab you. Get out of my way." The victims — all wearing and displaying traditional Orthodox Jewish clothing related to their heritage — frantically ran away from Alsaccal and flagged down bystanders to help them call the police. However, he fled before officers arrived. Fortunately, nobody was injured during the incident.
The third incident was reported on Saturday around 7:30 a.m. in the area of 17400 Collins Avenue. According to police, the two victims — who were Jewish and wearing traditional clothing — were reading the Torah as they walked to the local synagogue, when they saw Alsaccal approaching them, pulling out a "silver colored object out of his pocket," and made a threatening stance toward them.
He then began to make antisemitic insults and threats before the victims were able to run away to call police. Once officers arrived, they were able to get Alsaccal's description, which matched up with the suspect in the past two incidents, the release stated. After issuing a BOLO for Alsaccal, officers were able to find him in the area of 18600 Collins Avenue and arrested him.
According to police, officers found a silver pen in Alsaccal's pocket, which was taken in for evidence. He was then transported to Turner Gilford Knight jail, where he is currently held.