Man pleads guilty to ramming Chabad HQ in Brooklyn with car, faces up to 3 years

Colin Mixson, New York Daily News on May 14, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

A man accused of repeatedly ramming his car into Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn pleaded guilty to damaging religious property in federal court on Wednesday, officials said.

Dan Sohail, 36, faces a maximum of three years in prison after admitting to the bizarre Jan. 28 Crown Heights attack, but is expected to receive less than six months behind bars due to his lack of any prior criminal history. His sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

“By pleading guilty today, the defendant admitted that he intentionally damaged the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters, a globally significant Jewish religious institution, by repeatedly crashing his vehicle into the building’s entrance,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella.

An attorney for Sohail did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Sohail was arrested Jan. 28 for repeatedly ramming a side entrance of Chabad’s Eastern Parkway headquarters in Crown Heights with his Honda sedan.

Video posted online by Kol Haolam News shows the Honda backing up and then driving into the pair of double doors, knocking one door off its hinges.

When the driver finally emerges from the vehicle he can be heard shouting, “I f—ing slipped, you a–hole!”

Before ramming the Chabad headquarters, Sohail traveled to a synagogue in Brunswick, N.J., seeking to convert to Judaism. But congregants called police after he started yelling outside the house of worship.

Police didn’t arrest Sohail then, but recommended he get mental health counseling, sources said.

Sohail had visited the Chabad movement’s international headquarters in Crown Heights at least once before and was recorded dancing with congregants there, sources said.

Prior to pleading guilty, Sohail missed at least three scheduled court hearings at Brooklyn Federal Court, complaining about an altercation with a fellow detainee while being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

_____