Man drives into Chabad headquarters, rips door off hinges; federal complaint unsealed

Dan Sohail drove a 2012 Honda Accord into the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, ramming the building's entrance repeatedly until a door came off its hinges and prompting a federal complaint unsealed March 2 charging him with intentionally damaging religious property.

CCTV footage shows Sohail parking several blocks from the site, walking to an alley beside the headquarters, removing temporary blockades from a driveway and accelerating into the entrance, striking the doors until at least one detached. Video captured two bystanders cautiously approaching before Sohail exited the vehicle wearing a jacket, shorts and boots, shouted at people nearby and at one point yelled, "It slipped!" as officers arrived and took him into custody. One account of the arrest says he "appeared to spit at the crowd" as NYPD led him to a cruiser. No injuries were reported.

The incident occurred on January 28 during a large gathering marking the 75th anniversary of the installation of Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson as leader of the Lubavitch movement; thousands of Lubavitchers were reported to be at or near the headquarters that night. The site has sustained a near-constant police presence for years and has been the scene of past attacks and unrest, including the Crown Heights riots of 1991 and a 2014 stabbing near the building.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced the unsealing of the federal complaint on March 2. The charge of intentionally damaging religious property carries a maximum statutory sentence of three years in prison if the damage is found to have exceeded $5,000. Sohail, 36 and a New Jersey resident, was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court and pleaded not guilty Monday through his lawyer, Mia Eisner‑Grynberg. Eisner‑Grynberg told the court that her client's actions had not been "intentional in the manner described by the government."

Local prosecutors previously charged Sohail with multiple state counts that law enforcement labeled as hate crimes. "Dan Sohail ... faces several charges including attempted assault, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and aggravated harassment, which are being charged as hate crimes," said New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny during a news conference.

Prosecutors urged detention at the federal arraignment, with federal attorney Eric Silverberg acknowledging "very significant mental health concerns" while arguing that the defendant's conduct was dangerous. Sohail is being held after failing to post bail; he had been held at Rikers Island following the crash and prosecutors said he would be housed in a Brooklyn federal jail ahead of a scheduled bail hearing.

Family members and Chabad rabbis have been reported to say Sohail did not appear to harbor hatred toward Jews and had expressed interest in converting to Judaism. A correction in earlier coverage clarified that a comment about Sohail's Jewish heritage was attributed to his attorney, not to Sohail himself. A Chabad spokesperson declined to comment on the federal case or the cost of repairs.

The unsealed complaint and the CCTV footage are central pieces of evidence; investigators and prosecutors will need to establish the extent of the property damage and the defendant's intent to determine whether the federal sentencing threshold applies. Federal and state prosecutors have indicated coordination on the overlapping investigations as court proceedings continue.