A 46-year-old New York man spit at and headbutted a security guard after disrupting Shabbat services at a prominent Manhattan synagogue on Friday night, according to authorities. <\/p>\n
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch<\/a> identified the suspect as Larry Montes, of the Bronx, adding that he was charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime and one count of criminal mischief as a hate crime, among other charges. <\/p>\n Tisch said Montes disrupted services at Central Synagogue during Shabbat, which is the Jewish day of rest that begins at sundown every Friday. Witnesses said Montes was holloring. <\/p>\n “He was screaming and yelling,” Susan Roane, who who attended the service, told WCBS<\/a>. “I heard a loud pop. And the first thing I heard — we thought it was a gun.”<\/p>\n Roane, as well as Arlynn Greenbaum, who was also at the service, said they didn’t know what the man was saying.<\/p>\n “He looked like a maniac,” Greenbaum said, per the media outlet.<\/p>\n Suspect, 46, spits at and headbutts security guard during service at NY synagogue: police (Video courtesy of CNN Newsource via WCBS)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n During the confrontation, Montes allegedly hit a member of the congregation and damaged synagogue property before attacking a member of the security team, according to Tisch. <\/p>\n An NYPD sergeant who was working a paid detail at the synagogue intervened and took Montes into custody, said Tisch. <\/p>\n Tisch said she spoke with the synagogue’s rabbi after the incident and they were both relieved no one was seriously hurt. She also emphasized the importance of protecting places of worship.<\/p>\n “I understand the sanctity of this space and its meaning for congregants,” Tisch said in a series of statements on X<\/a>.”Central Synagogue is where I grew up. In joy and in sorrow, it has always been a place of comfort and peace. What happened there tonight is deeply painful,” she added<\/a>. “A place of worship should never be a crime scene.”<\/p>\n New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> and Gov. Kathy Hochul<\/a> both condemned the attack.<\/p>\n “I am grateful to Central Synagogue\u2019s security team for swiftly stepping in to prevent more violence, and to the NYPD sergeant who apprehended him and took him into custody,” Mamdani wrote on X<\/a>. “Our administration will always stand against bigotry in all its forms. We will use every tool at our disposal to confront antisemitism and keep Jewish New Yorkers — and all New Yorkers — safe.”<\/p>\n Hochul shared similar sentiments. She described the attack as “appalling.” <\/p>\n