A New Jersey man accused of violently attacking four Orthodox Jewish men and hitting three of them with a car in a violent one-day spree has been charged with federal hate crimes, prosecutors announced.
Dion Marsh, 27, of Manchester, New Jersey, was charged with four counts of violating the federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and one count of carjacking, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced in a news release Wednesday.
If convicted, Marsh could face life behind bars. Marsh allegedly targeted his victims “because they were Jewish” prosecutors said in a news release.
The spate of attacks started on April 8 at 1:18 p.m. when Marsh forced “a visibly identifiable Orthodox Jewish man” out of his car in Lakewood, New Jersey and assaulted him in the process. He then took drove off in the victim’s car.
Hours later just after 6 p.m. he was seen was driving a different car “when he deliberately struck another visibly identifiable Orthodox Jewish man” with the vehicle, “attempting to kill the victim and causing him to suffer several broken bones,” prosecutors said.
At 6:55 p.m. Marsh, driving the first victim’s car, allegedly attempted to kill another Orthodox Jewish man, hitting him with the car as the victim was walking in Lakewood, the news release stated. After striking him, Marsh exited the vehicle and stabbed the man in the chest with a knife, leaving the victim suffering a stab wound and other injuries, prosecutors said.
