FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, April 22, 2026
Staten Island Man Indicted for Hate Crime Assault and Robbery
Targeting Muslim Victim on Subway
Victim Thrown to Ground and Robbed in Unprovoked Attack
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Staten Island man has been arraigned on an indictment in which he is charged with robbery and assault as hate crimes and related offenses in connection with an unprovoked attack against a Muslim woman at the Ninth Avenue subway station in Brooklyn.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant is accused of a vicious, Islamophobic hate crime against an innocent victim going about her daily life. No one should have to fear violence due to their religious or ethnic background. The impact of these hate-fueled crimes reverberates throughout entire communities and has no place in our society. We will now seek to hold the defendant accountable for his actions.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Christopher Nastasa, 39, of Staten Island. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on a 16-count indictment in which he is charged with second-degree robbery as a hate crime, second-degree robbery, third-degree robbery as a hate crime, third-degree robbery, fourth-degree grand larceny as a hate crime, fourth-degree grand larceny, third-degree assault as a hate crime, third-degree assault, fourth-degree criminal mischief as a hate crime, fourth-degree criminal mischief, petit larceny as a hate crime and related charges. The defendant is being held on bail of $25,000 cash or $50,000 bond. He was ordered to return to court on June 3, 2026.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on March 17, 2026, at approximately 10:40 a.m., on the platform at the Ninth Avenue subway station in Brooklyn, the defendant stated to the victim, “I wonder how many Iranians we kill today, I think about 500.” The defendant followed the victim and further stated, “I think it’s funny how a terrorist can walk around now, not even your mayor can save you.” The victim started to record the defendant with her cell phone, and the defendant grabbed the victim’s hands and shook the victim, causing the victim to fall to the ground. The defendant then grabbed the victim’s phone and slammed it on the ground before picking it up and throwing it across the train tracks and into a wooded area. The defendant fled the scene on foot. The victim notified MTA staff about the incident and reported the incident to NYPD officers, who were able to recover the victim’s phone from the brush. The defendant was arrested following an investigation.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Prabhalya Pulim, of the District Attorney’s Hate Crimes Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kelli M. Muse, Chief of the Hate Crimes Bureau.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.