NEW YORK – A New York man was arrested after he allegedly attacked Hispanic men after taking them to faraway places on Long Island.
Suffolk County Police say 19-year-old Christopher Cella of Selden was arrested Sunday and charged with multiple hate crimes related to alleged violent attacks on at least three Hispanic men, one of whom he tried to strangle. .
The attacks occurred within a 24-hour period, authorities said.
Cella allegedly picked up a 52-year-old man near La Placita, a local supermarket chain that sells products from Latin American countries, on Horseblock Road in Farmingville around 8:15 a.m. on Friday, September 17. He then took the victim to an abandoned construction site on Blue Point Road and attacked him.
Police did not provide details of that attack, but said Cella left the site and about an hour later picked up another victim, a 60-year-old man, at a 7-Eleven less than a mile from La Placita.
From there, Cella allegedly took the man to the Blue Ridge condo complex and tried to strangle him. The victim was able to escape, police said, and Cella reportedly returned to the 7-Eleven around 8:00 a.m. the next day.
The third victim, a 47-year-old Brentwood resident, got into Cella’s vehicle but was suspicious of Cella and was able to get out of the car.
Cella was arrested Sunday at his home in Adirondack Drive. He was charged with two counts of Aggravated Harassment, two counts of Criminal Obstruction of Breathing, two counts of Unlawful Imprisonment under the Hate Crimes Act, and one count of Reckless Endangerment under the Hate Crimes Act.
He is scheduled to appear in First District Court in Central Islip on Monday. It is unclear if he has obtained an attorney who can speak about the charges on his behalf.
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