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Police Arrest 14-Year-Old in Case of Women Burned in Midtown

The teen was charged with hate crime attempted assault, hate crime aggravated harassment and hate crime harassment for targeting a teen girl on 42nd Street between Seventh and Sixth avenues on September 10.

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The target, who was not hurt, continued to walk down Fifth Avenue and the group headed the other way.

The incident was one in a series of targeted fire attacks on women in midtown by a group of three males and three females, cops said.

Dr Al-Hanai was unable to get a clear view of her attacker, but she did notice a man wearing a black hat, shoes, pants and a tank top walking away from the scene.

She was able to pat out the fire with her hands and did not suffer any injury.

Minutes later, police said a woman’s skirt was set on fire by someone in a group who passed her on 54th Street and Fifth Avenue. The woman, a 35-year-old tourist, said she was walking when she suddenly felt her shirt sleeve on fire.

Afaf Nasher, director of The Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he was concerned by the rise in attacks against Muslims in America.

Initially, police were investigating whether the attack could be classified as a hate crime against someone who was Muslim.

In the attack at the subway station, the victims said they saw a black male, about 6 feet tall with a thin build wearing a white t-shirt and holding a black backpack and a lighter. Police say the teen put a flame near their arms. The other women were not wearing any religious attire. When the two women boarded the F train heading north to Queens, the group of people fled, the women recounted.

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The newly-released images from the attack on the Scottish woman show a black man wearing a black hat, black tank top, black pants and black shoes walking in the street.

CCTV footage of prime suspect