An investigation into the death remains active, and while preliminary findings indicated the attack was random and unprovoked, prosecutors are now saying the five teens may also face bias charges:
In addition to the charges arising from Sinha's fatal beating, the five juveniles, all Old Bridge residents, were charged with aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and criminal mischief after investigators learned they were involved in a separate, unrelated altercation with a motorist minutes before they attacked Sinha, Kaplan said.Sinha was a scientist and professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology. What remains a question to everyone is why the hell this happened. The guy was just out for a walk, and now he's dead.
The five teenagers engaged in a motor vehicle chase with another motorist less than five minutes before they attacked Sinha, 49, outside his Fela Drive home, the prosecutor said. In the first incident, the motorist, a white male, was able to flee from the attack, which occurred on Prests Mill Road in the township, Kaplan said. Several objects were thrown at the motorist's car, which sustained some damage, he said.
The incidents occurred less than two miles from each other.
Kaplan said that while the attack on Sinha appears to be random and unprovoked in light of the earlier incident, authorities may decide to file bias charges once their investigation is completed.
The initial focus of the probe, he said, "has been to determine who was responsible for the murder of Dr. Sinha."
The death has sent shockwaves of concern through Old Bridge's Indian American community, which represents six percent of the town's population: Fatal beating of Old Bridge man highlights harassment of South Asian community.