A 19-year-old Florida man was arrested after authorities said he sprayed two Jewish pedestrians with liquid from a water gun in northeast Miami-Dade County, in what police are treating as a hate crime.<\/p>\n
Amir Ayesh, of Plantation, Florida, is expected to face two felony counts of battery with prejudice, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff\u2019s Office. The alleged incidents took place on May 9 in the area of Northeast 10th Avenue and 171st Street, in a neighborhood with a large Jewish population.<\/p>\n
According to the sheriff\u2019s office, two victims reported that a person in a black vehicle sprayed them with an unknown liquid. Detectives later identified Ayesh as the suspect after reviewing surveillance<\/a> footage, CBS Miami reported.<\/p>\n An arrest warrant was obtained on June 11, and Ayesh was arrested on June 18 in Plantation by Broward Sheriff\u2019s deputies with assistance from other law enforcement agencies, according to local reports. He was booked into the Broward County Correctional Center and released the following day, according to online records.<\/p>\n The Miami-Dade Sheriff\u2019s Office said Ayesh is expected to be charged with two counts of battery with prejudice, a hate-crime-related charge under Florida law. As of Friday, the charges had not yet appeared in Broward or Miami-Dade court records, the Miami Herald reported.<\/p>\n Under Florida law, offenses can be reclassified to a more serious degree when they show evidence of prejudice based on protected characteristics, including religion.<\/p>\n The arrest comes months after a similar case in Miami Beach. In February, two South Florida<\/a> men were arrested after police said they targeted a Jewish man with a water gun in the Mid-Beach area.<\/p>\n