Posted on: October 22, 2026 07:30 AM

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NYC man charged in fatal hit and run in Jewish nabe hit with hate crimes for trashing bagel shop

Prosecutors announced Monday that a Queens man accused of killing a 71-year-old lady in a Jewish community has been charged with hate crimes for allegedly vandalizing a nearby kosher bagel business twice only days before.

 

According to the Queens District Attorney's Office, Dawood Faisal, 22, who was already incarcerated for manslaughter in connection with the May 25 death of Cara Trager on Union Parkway, was charged with several charges for allegedly vandalizing Bagels & Co., a Jewish-owned business that displayed Israeli flags and banners.

According to prosecutors, Dawood, of Fresh Meadows, first damaged the bagel shop shortly after 6:15 p.m. on May 15, toppling nine metal plant stands outside, then collecting the dirt and tossing it at the structure.

The DA stated that he reportedly came back on May 23 and shoved over and kicked 11 of the plant stands and dumped dirt outside the store before taking greenery from a big clay pot and tossing it.

 

He then allegedly went 75 mph in his 2013 Toyota Prius through the area, which has a 35 mph speed limit, ran a red light on Francis Lewis Boulevard, and hit Trager and her husband, Michael, who amazingly lived.

 

Faisal left the area but ran the car into an accident, and passersby detained him until the police came.

 

Michael Trager began a campaign in June to have the deadly hit-and-run declared a hate crime due to the acts of vandalism, while he was charged with assault and manslaughter.

"What I am alleging is that he was in a Jewish neighborhood, a very heavily Jewish neighborhood," Trager stated.

"And although he didn't necessarily attempt to kill Cara Trager, harm Michael Trager, or kill Michael Trager for that matter, if he were to engage in that behavior, it would more than likely hurt a Jewish person," he added.

Faisal was first taken into custody in July on vandalism charges, and this week's indictment included hate crime raps related to those occurrences.

Melinda Katz, the District Attorney for Queens, said in a statement on Monday that "as claimed, Dawood Faisal repeatedly targeted a Fresh Meadows business specifically because it is Jewish-owned and had Israeli flags, and destroyed property as an expression of antisemitism."

"Bias crimes are a slap in the face to our whole community and will not be accepted," she stated.