The man accused of screaming “Allahu Akbar” before stabbing an Asian man and a Jewish man in back-to-back broad-daylight attacks on the Upper West Side is facing up to 40 years in prison for his violent hate crime spree, prosecutors said Saturday.
Raul Morales, 51, was ordered held without bail on attempted murder, assault, and attempted assault — all as hate crimes — during a brief appearance in Manhattan Criminal Court late Friday.
Police initially filed hate crime charges against Morales, but only for the attack on his Jewish victim, officials said. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg elevated the charges at Morales’ arraignment, making sure that both attacks are considered hate crimes, which carry additional penalties upon conviction.
If convicted, Morales faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison for his bloody rampage, Assistant District Attorney Megan Joy said in court.
The Upper West Side resident is accused of screaming “Allahu Akbar” three times during his spree on Thursday afternoon, prosecutors said. He also hid in his NYCHA apartment for nearly an hour, refusing to come out, as heavily armed NYPD Emergency Services Unit cops stood outside his door, demanding his surrender.
The bloodshed began when Morales, dressed in all black, plunged a knife into the 57-year-old Asian man’s back on W. 84th St. and Central Park West about 1:31 p.m.
After the first attack, Morales was seen by a congregant sitting on the steps of Congregation Rodeph Sholom, a synagogue on W. 83rd St. near Central Park West, walking toward the synagogue repeatedly yelling, “Justice for Islam” and “Allahu Akbar”, according to the criminal complaint.
About ten minutes later, Morales Moshe stabbed Yezhak Grunhaus in the chest with a screwdriver outside The Jewish Center, a prominent Upper West Side synagogue, on Amsterdam Ave. near W. 86th St. while muttering something unintelligible.
Grunhaus, who had just left Tisha B’Av services at the synagogue, told police that he pulled the screwdriver out of his own chest. Video of the aftermath of the attack showed the victim lying on the concrete sidewalk, pressing a tissue to his open wound.
A good Samaritan, who witnesses described as a UPS delivery worker, heard Grunhaus yell, “That guy stabbed me!” and spotted Morales fleeing the scene.
The quick-thinking worker tailed Morales to the suspect’s NYCHA apartment building on Amsterdam Ave. near W. 89th St. and alerted police, according to the complaint.
The UPS worker heard Morales scream “Allahu Akbar” one more time before the suspect entered his building, prosecutors said.
When cops arrived, Morales barricaded himself in his 11th floor apartment, where he changed out of the clothes he had worn during his stabbing spree.
Morales refused to come out of his apartment, sparking a 50-minute standoff with NYPD Emergency Service Unit officers until he surrendered.
Cops searching his unit found the clothes he wore during the attacks, two Qurans, a Jehovah’s witness bible, and a book with Karl Marx’s writings, prosecutors said.
He raved at reporters as he was led out of the 20th Precinct stationhouse in handcuffs Friday evening.
“Justice for Sandra and Lilian Romero! Justice for the Romero family! Justice for the Romero family!” Morales shouted at reporters as he was led into an NYPD vehicle. “Remember their names!”
When asked who Morales was talking about, a police source replied, “We have no idea. He’s a kook.”
It’s believed Morales may have been speaking about his own family when he screamed about the Romeros.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Thursday that the NYPD’s initial investigation suggested “that mental health may have been a factor,” even though Morales has “no known mental health history with the NYPD.”
Morales’ first victim was rushed to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital with a knife still lodged in his back and had to undergo surgery to have it removed, prosecutors said The victim is expected to survive.
Grunhaus was rushed to the same hospital, where he’s also expected to recover.
Barry Williams / New York Daily News
Raul Morales is escorted from the 20th Pct. Friday, July 24 2026 in New York, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
At Grunhaus’ building, a short walk from The Jewish Center, his 65-year-old neighbor described the victim as “a very nice man” who keeps to himself.
“He’s very introverted. It’s just a terrible disaster. I can only imagine how he feels,” said the neighbor, who only gave her name as Helen. “He’s a very long-term resident here. I know he’s a very wonderful man. It’s terrible and especially in this neighborhood it’s very rare.”
Morales was arrested twice in 1991 for drug possession and intent to sell in Brooklyn, according to a police source. After violating probation, which was initially imposed by a judge, he was sentenced to prison in 1994 for about two years.
