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The two were sharing an elevator at the Mediterranean Towers when Afrim Haxhaj, 31, began harassing the 41-year-old victim, Fort Lee Police Capt. Edward Young said.
“The profane bias derogatory remarks directed towards her continued as she exited the elevator,” the captain said.
Police arrested Haxhaj, charged him with two counts of bias intimidation and sent him to the Bergen County Jail following last Monday’s incident.
A judge released him hours later pending further court action following a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, records show.
Haxhaj reportedly was involved in a similar incident at a nearby Dunkin Donuts in April 2020 in which authorities said he threatened a Jewish customer.
He allegedly told the victim that “Jews are responsible” for COVID-19 and deliberately bumped into him, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office alleged at the time.
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