Man, 29, is charged with hate crimes for 'beating nine light-skinned women in random attacks over six weeks' at Brooklyn subway station two blocks from his homeless shelter
Khari Covington, 29, is charged with seven counts for attacks committed in the subway
A man has been arrested after carrying out a suspected string of random assaults on 'light-skinned' women at a Brooklyn subway station.
Khari Covington, 29, was arrested and charged with a slew of hate crimes on Tuesday.
He is accused of attacking nine women on separate occasions in East Williamsburg since last August.
Seven of the alleged assaults occurred within the Morgan Avenue subway station.
Two other assaults happened on the streets above.
Covington lives at a homeless shelter two blocks from the train station.
In the first incident, Covington is alleged to have pushed a woman who had been jogging and then punched her.
Covington appears to have targeted light-skinned women, according to the New York Post, in a pattern of attacks that started in early November and carried on until last week.
Covington is accused of attacking nine women on separate occasions in East Williamsburg since last August. Covington seemed to target light-skinned women including Bianca Fortis
Fortis criticized the NYPD for not doing enough to stop the attacks that continued for weeks
Khari Covington, 29, was arrested and charged with a slew of hate crimes on Tuesday
Most of the female victims were in their 20s.
On Monday police revealed he is also suspected of assaulting a 27-year-old worker at a smoke shop.
Covington marched into the shop and went behind the counter, knocking the worker to the ground and putting his arm around her neck before trying to steal items from the business.
His arrest drew criticism from one of Covington's victims who expressed disappointment that the NYPD had not alerted the public of the pattern of assaults that was occurring.
On Monday police revealed he is also suspected of assaulting a 27-year-old worker at a smoke shop
Covington marched into the shop and went behind the counter, knocking her to the ground and putting his arm around her neck before trying to steal items from the business
'I was stunned that this had happened so many times,' Bianca Fortis, a 32-year-old journalist, said Monday to the Post.
'I didn't see any police stationed there. There were no flyers,' said Fortis, who was left with a bruised face, shoulder and chest during her attack.
Covington has been charged with eight counts of assault as a hate crime and one count of attempted robbery as a hate crime, according to the NYPD.
At least five of the assaults took place at the same Brooklyn station at Morgan Avenue in East Williamsburg