A black 17-year-old was arrested on Staten Island yesterday morning for his role in a hate crime earlier this week, police said.
Yashua Plair was hanging out with a group of seven black males Wednesday at about 8 p.m. when he approached the 15-year-old Hispanic victim as he walked through the West Brighton community, police said.
Plair flashed a knife and muttered anti-Mexican slurs before robbing the victim of his iPod, police added.
The victim was uninjured, and Plair was nabbed by detectives from the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force.
Plair is charged with robbery and menacing, both as a hate crime.
The arrest comes two days before Archbishop Timothy Dolan will preach about peace during tomorrow’s 11 a.m. mass at St. Mary’s of the Assumption R.C. Church, located in Port Richmond, said a church official.
Since April there have been 11 such attacks on Staten Island, primarily in the Port Richmond area.
Cops have responded with increased patrol cars, mobile command posts, watchtowers and beefed up foot patrols.