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A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC. Gothamist Listen Live Donate News NJ man sentenced after ramming Chabad headquarters in Brooklyn By Catalina Gonella Published Jul 29, 2026 at 2:51 p.m. ET
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A New Jersey man was sentenced in federal court to time served plus seven days on Wednesday after admitting to intentionally damaging the Chabad-Lubavitch movement's global headquarters in Crown Heights earlier this year, officials said.
Dan Sohail, 36, of Carteret, New Jersey, pleaded guilty in May to one count of intentionally damaging religious property.
Sohail will not be released immediately, authorities said. He has served about five months in federal custody and about one month in state custody. U.S. District Judge Eric Vitaliano also ordered him to pay $19,010 in restitution to cover the cost of repairing the damage to the Chabad headquarters, according to officials.
Federal sentencing guidelines called for zero to six months in prison, though the charge carried a maximum sentence of three years, along with fines and restitution. Prosecutors urged the judge to impose a 14-month prison sentence, arguing the advisory guidelines did not reflect the seriousness of the crime.
"The defendant's crime did not occur in a vacuum," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo. "Instead, the defendant rammed his car into one of the most visible Jewish institutions in the world at a time and in a city where anti-Jewish crimes are surging."
Sohail was arrested at the scene on Jan. 28 after driving his 2012 Honda Accord into the side entrance of the synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway during an event marking the anniversary of the death of the Chabad movement's spiritual leader.
Prosecutors said Sohail drove up to the side entrance around 8:40 p.m., got out of his car, moved protective stanchions and gestured for congregants to move away from the doors. He then got back into his car and drove it into the entrance, reversing and ramming it four more times, according to a criminal complaint.
Prosecutors said the impact knocked the door off its hinges and destroyed the front bumper of Sohail's car. Dozens of people were inside at the time, but no one was injured.
After his arrest, Sohail told investigators he had recently learned he had Jewish heritage, had previously visited the headquarters and had been invited to the event. He also said he lost control of the vehicle because of icy conditions and the heavy boots he was wearing.
The NYPD initially investigated the incident as a hate crime, but Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez later dropped the state charges. Federal prosecutors also said there wasn't enough evidence to convict Sohail of a hate crime.
In their sentencing memo, however, prosecutors emphasized the religious significance of the Chabad headquarters.
“By deliberately ramming his car into the Chabad headquarters, the defendant attacked a sacred Jewish institution precisely because of the building’s religious character,” they wrote. “When a person intentionally damages or destroys religious property, the crime is naturally understood by members of the religion as an attack on them.”
They also argued the timing of the incident, while congregants were commemorating the anniversary of the Chabad movement leader's death, made the offense “both symbolically and practically significant.”
“When the defendant attacked the building, he did so in the presence of large crowds of people gathered outside and inside the synagogue. It is fortunate no one was injured,” prosecutors wrote. “And though the defendant gestured for congregants to move out of the way, he did so precisely so he could complete a violent and dangerous crime.”
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