Suspect in stabbing at home of New York rabbi arrested on attempted murder charges

The suspect in a stabbing at a New York rabbi’s home during a Hanukkah celebration was arrested on attempted murder charges hours after the attack, officials said.

Grafton Thomas is being accused of stabbing five people and was found with “blood all over him” after fleeing the scene, a law enforcement source with direct knowledge of the case told CNN. 

Authorities said a license plate reader caught his car tag at 11:45 p.m. Saturday, leading to his arrest. He is scheduled to be arraigned Sunday, according to a Facebook post from the Ramapo Police Department. 

A New York Police Department spokeswoman said the Greenwood Lake, N.Y. resident was taken into custody after midnight and taken upstate without incident, according to CNN.

An attacker invaded Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg’s home in Monsey, N.Y. Saturday night and stabbed several people there. The victims were all Hasidic Jews and were sent to local hospitals, according to the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council. Monsey has a high population of Orthodox Jews. 

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called the attacks “an act of domestic terrorism.” New York has seen an increase in anti-Semitic attacks during Hanukkah this year.