Dan Sohail, 36, was sentenced to six months and one week in federal prison after driving his car into the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters in Brooklyn. Judge Eric N. Vitaliano rejected prosecutors' request for a longer term, citing a psychiatric report that found mental-health issues played a major role. No one was injured; Sohail knocked the side entrance off its hinges and was ordered to pay $20,000 in restitution. The attack, on the 75th anniversary of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson's leadership, renewed security concerns at the site.
Man Sentenced to 6 Months After Driving Into Chabad Lubavitch Headquarters in Brooklyn
FILE - People clean up after a car slammed into the entrance of the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters, Jan. 29, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)
A man was sentenced Wednesday to six months and one week in federal prison after driving his car repeatedly into the side entrance of the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters in Brooklyn. Authorities and court records identify the defendant as 36-year-old Dan Sohail of Carteret, New Jersey.
Sentencing Details
U.S. District Judge Eric N. Vitaliano imposed the six-month-and-one-week term and rejected prosecutors' request that Sohail remain jailed for an additional eight months. Because Sohail has already spent about six months in pretrial detention, the judge's ruling makes his release likely in roughly a week. Vitaliano also ordered Sohail to pay $20,000 in restitution.
Court Arguments and Mental-Health Findings
Prosecutors had sought a stiffer sentence to send a deterrent message amid a surge in antisemitic incidents, noting city data that 80 of 146 reported hate-crime incidents in New York City so far this year targeted Jews or Jewish institutions. The Justice Department urged the court to consider the wider public impression that the Jan. 28 attack might have been a hate crime.
"This is a sad tale," Judge Vitaliano said after reviewing a psychiatric report. He said Sohail's mental-health struggles "played an important role" in his decisions leading up to the incident.
Federal prosecutors charged Sohail with intentionally damaging religious property; he pleaded guilty in mid-May. At sentencing, the judge noted that Sohail waved passersby away before driving his vehicle into the building five times, knocking the door off its hinges and destroying his car's front bumper. No one was injured.
Defense Account
Defense attorney Mia Eisner-Grynberg told the court that Sohail has suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a traumatic childhood. She said he had been seeking belonging through Judaism, attended the Chabad he later targeted, and at times found the rabbinical students welcoming. According to the defense, Sohail followed advice to travel to Israel but became increasingly anxious and "begging" members of the community for help after his return. The attorney described the crash as an "irrational cry for help." Sohail did not speak at sentencing but thanked the judge at the hearing's end.
Context and History
The incident occurred on the 75th anniversary of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson becoming leader of the Lubavitch movement, a milestone observed by the community. The Chabad headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway has maintained a near-constant police presence for years and has been the site of past violence, including the 1991 Crown Heights riots and a 2014 stabbing of a rabbinical student.
The case highlights tensions between calls for deterrence when attacks target religious institutions and the court's consideration of an individual defendant's mental-health issues and circumstances. Sohail was ordered to pay restitution and faces the federal sentence imposed by Judge Vitaliano.
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