CHINATOWN, Manhattan (WABC) -- A 23-year-old Brooklyn man isn't facing hate crime charges after all after he allegedly stabbed an Asian man in the back because he told police he "didn't like the way he looked at him."
According to the criminal complaint, 23-year-old Salman Muflihi is charged with second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree assault, and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Police initially indicated that the attack may have been racially motivated, but the Manhattan District Attorney's Office declined to prosecute the stabbing as a hate crime.
Investigators have nothing so far to indicate the defendant ever saw the victim's face prior to the attack, a law enforcement official told ABC News.