Driver now facing hate crime charges in deadly road rage attack on Sikh man on Van Wyck Expressway
NEW YORK -- A driver accused of killing a Sikh man in a road rage incident is now facing hate crimes charges.
The victim's son among the many who showed up at the defendant's arraignment.
Rows and rows of members of the Sikh community packed into Queens County Criminal Court on Tuesday, not only to support the family of 66-year-old Jasmer Singh, but also to back the district attorney's decision to pursue hate crime charges against his alleged attacker.
"In my mind and everybody here, if this man didn't have a turban or was younger, we know for a fact this would not have been the result of this altercation," advocate Japneet Singh said.
Prosecutors say Jasmer Singh was driving with his wife on the Van Wyck Expressway on Oct. 19 when they got into a fender-bender with 30-year-old Gilbert Augustin.
According to prosecutors, Augustin reacted violently when Singh attempted to call the police, first commenting on his turban then punching him three times in the head and neck, causing him to fall and die from a traumatic brain injury.
Singh's heartbroken son says his parents were about to leave for a trip overseas.
"The plan was shattered. They were happily boarding a flight to India. Now, she will have my father's ashes in her lap in the same flight. We are in bad shape, and I want the justice," Subeg Singh Multani said.
At Augustin's arraignment, prosecutors detailed why they decided to add manslaughter and assault as hate crimes charges. The defendant shook his head multiple times, seeming to disagree.
"He called him 'turban man,' not one, not twice, but three times angrily," Assistant District Attorney Michael Whitney said.
Also in the courtroom was Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, who later on stopped by the Sikh Cultural Center to offer support to a community that's suffered a recent cluster of attacks.
"Why Sikhs? We are proud Americans. We are proud New Yorkers. Why are we being targeted?" Japneet Singh said.
Augustin plead not guilty to the 20-count indictment.
If convicted of all charges, he could face up to 25 years in prison.
