Wednesday, August 14, 2013
2 Kaser paintball hate crime suspects released
Two people facing hate-crime assault charges in a paintball shooting  were released from custody Tuesday morning, while shooting suspect  remained behind bars on $50,000 bail.
All  three suspects — accused in an incident in which Josef Margaretten was  shot with two paintball pellets a week ago in the village of Kaser —  appeared for a felony hearing in Ramapo Town Court. Assistant District  Attorney Jason Rosenwasser told Town Justice Alan Simon that the  prosecutor's office was seeking more time to investigate the incident.
Simon  released shooting suspect Shashi Ramsaroop's pregnant fiancée, Lindsey  Peaks, 20, and Demetrius Latrell Torain, who had been held on $25,000  bail.
Ramsaroop, 23, remained heldbecause his lawyer filed a speedy trial motion and waived his right to a preliminary hearing.
Ramsaroop,  Peaks and Torain are charged with second-degree assault, two counts of  second-degree aggravated harassment, fourth-degree criminal possession  of a weapon, and third-degree criminal tampering. Police said one of  them cursed Jews while Margaretten, who is Hasidic, was shot from a car.
Margaretten,  35, of Spring Valley told The Journal News that he first thought he had  been shot with bullets. He suffered burn marks to his abdomen.
Peaks  and Torain declined to comment when leaving the courtroom Tuesday.  Peaks, who told the judge last week she was pregnant, left in tears and  was comforted by friends and family. She  had been living with Ramsaroop  in North Carolina for the past eight months.
Ramsaroop, a truck driver, formerly lived in Nanuet.
He  was arrested there in July 2012 for firing a rifle at deer from the  roof of his house. He pleaded guilty in January to prohibitive use of a  weapon and paid a $455 fine, according to Clarkstown Town Court records.
His lawyer, Ellen Woods, said Tuesday that she had just gotten the case and couldn't comment on the specifics.
"The  D.A. is taking this very seriously," she said after talking with a  woman who came to support Ramsaroop in court. "The case has just  started."
The trio  were arrested by Ramapo police shortly after the shooting had been  reported on Rita Avenue in Kaser. Members of the Charverim, a Hasidic  community organization that conducts safety patrols, stopped the car  containing the three suspects until police arrived.
District  Attorney Thomas Zugibe said the waiving of the preliminary hearing is  not unique and he expected a grand jury to hear the case against  Ramsaroop, Peaks and Torain by September.
http://www.lohud.com/article/20130813/NEWS03/308130041/Paintball-hate-crime-2-charged-Hasidic-man-s-shooting-released-videos-
 
 
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