Teenage Assaulter of Sikhs Stabbed to Death in NY

(photo: NYPD)

India-West News Desk

QUEENS, NY – Nineteen-year-old Vernon Douglas who was charged by police of a hate crime against Sikhs has himself been killed. He was stabbed to death in Brooklyn with a blade found lying beside him. Police said the handle to the blade was missing, probably removed by the assailant to avoid leaving fingerprint impressions.

His killing comes just months after he attacked Sikh men in the Richmond Hill section of Queens.

He faced hate crime charge related to an attack on a 70-year-old Sikh Nirmal Singh who had been simply strolling in the area but wearing traditional clothes, including a turban. Investigators said he approached the victim, who was dressed in traditional Sikh clothes and turban and punched him in the face unprovoked, on April 3. The elderly man had suffered a broken nose and bruises to his face.

At the same intersection, where he had attacked the elderly Sikh, Douglas, along with an accomplice had beaten two other Sikh men, police had charged.

He approached his victims while walking down the street shirtless and carrying a wooden stick. He pummeled them, knocking off their turbans and robbing them of money.