A second suspect has been arrested in connection with firebomb attacks on New Jersey synagogues in January, prosecutors announced Friday.
Bergen County prosecutors say 19-year-old Ahkash Dalal of New Brunswick gave 19-year-old Anthony Graziano of Lodi information on how to make incendiary devices. Graziano was charged in January for firebombings of synagogues in Rutherford and Paramus, and with planning an attack on a Jewish community center.
Prosecutors say Graziano alone carried out the firebombings. But they say Dalal was involved in two other incidents involving anti-Semitic graffiti.
Dalal is charged with conspiracy, aggravated arson, bias intimidation and criminal mischief. Police say he attended Rutgers University and went to middle school with Graziano. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer.
Graziano, 19, of Lodi, N.J., has pleaded not guilty to first-degree attempted murder, bias intimidation and aggravated arson, among other charges.
His lawyer, Robert Kalisch, has said Graziano had mental issues that may have been worsened by playing violent video games on his Xbox.
No one was seriously injured when several objects, including a rigged aerosol can and a Molotov cocktail, were thrown into a Rutherford synagogue on Jan. 11, but one of the devices crashed through a residential window at about 4:30 a.m., burning a rabbi on the hand. His wife, five children and mother- and father-in-law escaped unscathed.
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The building houses Congregation Beth El, a school, and a residence where Rabbi Nosson Schuman lives with his family.
The other two incidents also occurred in early January.
