Howard Beach witness arrested in robbery

Associated Press:

A witness in a brutal hate crime last month in the Howard Beach section of Queens has been arrested in an armed holdup on a subway train, police said Monday.

Richard Wood, 20, was accused of stealing a necklace and a wallet from an 18-year-old subway rider at gunpoint at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday in the East New York section. A second suspect was being sought.

Wood was awaiting arraignment on charges of robbery, grand larceny and criminal possession of a weapon. Prosecutors did not have the name of his lawyer.

Wood was on the street with Glenn Moore at 3 a.m. on June 29 when, authorities say, a pair of white assailants chased down Moore, beat him with a baseball bat and told him, "That is what you get when you try to rob white boys."

Nicholas Minucci, 19, and Anthony Ench, 21, have been charged with assault as a hate crime and other offenses. A defense lawyer has said Moore provoked the attack by holding a screwdriver to Minucci's neck.

Race case victim held in robbery

Man Who Fled Bias Attack Is Arrested in Robbery