A Syringe Attack on a Young Rabbi Leaves Midtown Questions Unanswered

A 32-year-old Brooklyn woman is in custody and facing multiple charges after an alleged syringe attack on a young rabbi in Manhattan's Diamond District. Secondary reports say a second Jewish man was also stabbed, but the sequence and timing of the two attacks are in dispute.

The woman, identified as Anna Mochalova, was arrested Saturday, October 24. Fox News reported that she faces eight counts each of assault and menacing. The page metadata for the Fox story says she allegedly stalked the rabbi, but this publication could not read the article body and cannot confirm that detail. She has not been convicted of anything, and she is presumed innocent.

No police statement or court filing has been reviewed for this story, so what follows rests on news reports and secondary accounts, some of them unverified.

What the Charges Say

Accounts of the charges differ. Fox put the count at eight assault charges and eight menacing charges. Just the News credited Fox and described multiple counts of assault and menacing, along with aggravated harassment and criminal possession of a weapon. Some secondary accounts say the charges include assault as a hate crime and that the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating. Patriot Daily Wire has not confirmed either point with police or the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

Nobody has said publicly what was in the syringe. There has been no word on how badly either man was hurt, what any medical tests showed, or what drove the attacks. Her plea and her mental state have not been reported either.

A Young Man From Crown Heights

Just the News carried comments from Yaacov Behrman, a liaison for Chabad Headquarters in Crown Heights, and linked to a News12 Brooklyn story. This publication has not read the News12 piece, so the quotes below are as Just the News presented them.

"I can confirm the victim is a young man from Crown Heights," Behrman said, adding, "I understand they have a suspect in custody."

Secondary accounts say the rabbi is a 26-year-old Chabad student who was doing outreach work. One of them, relaying comments he reportedly made to the New York Post, says he was targeted because he is "visibly Jewish." That is a paraphrase with a partial quote, and it has not been verified.

Two Attacks, Conflicting Timelines

The basic outline appears consistent across reports: two Jewish men, one woman, Midtown Manhattan. The particulars are not. Fox's headline says the other man was stabbed hours earlier than the rabbi. One secondary account, from CrimeBytes, puts the first attack near West 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue around 4 p.m. and the attack on the rabbi near West 47th Street around 6 p.m. A New York Post headline described the second attack as coming minutes after the rabbi was stabbed, which reverses the order. Just the News said the incidents happened "last week." Other reports place them on Saturday, the same day as the arrest.

Until police or prosecutors release an official account, the exact sequence should be treated as unsettled. The same goes for the secondary report that the first victim was a 37-year-old man stabbed in the arm after he confronted the woman, and for the claim that the two attacks were a short distance apart, which rests on unverified addresses.

In a Fox video segment on the case, former FBI agent Nicole Parker said threats to the Jewish community are "disproportionately high."

Unverified Video and What Comes Next

CrimeBytes reported that Manhattan Shomrim, a Jewish neighborhood patrol group, posted video of the woman following the rabbi. This publication has not reviewed that footage.

Reports say Mochalova was arraigned Sunday in Manhattan Criminal Court. Whether she was held or released, on what terms, and when she is due back in court has not been made public. Those answers will come from the court and the District Attorney's office, along with any decision to add or upgrade charges. So will the first official word on what was in that syringe.