The city police Department announced the arrest of Angel Mario, 43, who was suspected of carrying out xenophobic graffiti near the A Line subway station at Far Rockaway and Mott Avenue, south of JFK Airport, last month. He allegedly spray-painted the words "Fxxk you, gook" on the door of a liquor store near the subway station at about 10:43 p.m. on April 19. "Gook" is a highly discriminatory term used to refer to East and South Asians.
The city police Department's hate crimes unit took over the case and conducted an investigation for more than a month. Finally locked down Mario.
According to police, Mario has been arrested more than 100 times before for drug trafficking and theft, graffiti and other offenses, and served four years in a New York State prison for drug trafficking. Most of his arrests were related to theft and graffiti.
Police listed Mario's address as the 500 block of Clarkson Avenue in Brooklyn. He now faces charges of hate crimes and aggravated harassment, as well as graffiti.
