A man is facing hate crime charges in connection with a pair of incidents in which people were sprayed with a liquid in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in northeast Miami-Dade, authorities said.
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Amir Ayesh, 19, is facing two counts of battery with prejudice, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
The incidents happened back on May 9, when two separate people reported being sprayed with an unknown liquid by a person in a black vehicle within minutes of each other in the area of Northeast 10th Avenue and Northeast 171st Street.
Deputies responded and obtained a vehicle description, and detectives later identified Ayesh as the suspect, officials said.
Detectives later found surveillance video that showed the suspect using what appeared to be a water gun to spray the victims from his vehicle.
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On Thursday, deputies working with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Plantation Police Department, located and arrested Ayesh in Plantation, authorities said.
Ayesh was booked into a Broward jail while he awaits extradition to Miami-Dade.
“MDSO remains committed to investigating crimes that target individuals based on their race, religion, ethnicity, or other protected characteristics,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Anyone with additional information related to this investigation is encouraged to contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
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