Woman faces hate crime charges in assault on Palestinian man, pregnant wife at Downers Grove Panera
A woman faces hate crime charges after allegedly berating a man wearing a hoodie with the word "Palestine" on it at a Downers Grove Panera restaurant.
Alexandra Szustakiewicz, a 64-year-old Darien woman, allegedly confronted the man and yelled expletives at him while trying to hit his pregnant wife just before noon Saturday at the restaurant, Downers Grove police said.
A woman who was with the man started recording the incident on her cellphone, which Szustakiewicz allegedly tried to hit out of her hands, police said. The video was shared on social media.
Szustakiewicz was arrested Sunday at her home and charged with two felony hate crime counts and one count of disorderly conduct, police said. She was booked into DuPage County Jail.
"This type of behavior is not and will never be tolerated in our community," Downers Grove Police Chief Michael DeVries said in a statement.
One of the victims, Waseem Zahran, said he tried to deescalate the situation multiple times, even after Szustakiewicz allegedly hit him in the face and attempted to throw hot coffee on his wife before and after swinging at her multiple times. He said Szustakiewicz continued swinging at his wife after he told Szustakiewicz his wife was pregnant. "I don't care," he says she replied.
Zahran alleges the woman said, "F—- Palestine and f—-you" after asking the couple if they were Palestinian.
Zahran said he and other Palestinians have come to expect this sort of behavior due to rampant Islamophobia in the U.S. Before he and his wife had moved to Downers Grove a few months ago, they lived in Plainfield, just a few blocks from where 6-year-old Palestinian American boy Wadee Alfayoumi was stabbed to death. The family's landlord, Joseph Czuba, has been charged in the slaying of the boy in October of 2023.
Zahran says this is not the first time he’s been harassed for the sweatshirt, and he doesn’t expect it to be the last.
“Since I was a child, I’ve seen my mom threatened, parents screamed at, cousins yelled at, but it was a first for me to be attacked,” Zahran said. “It’s very known in our community how serious this anti-Palestinian [sentiment] is.”
He said he’s learned to “always be with people,” but that even in the wake of Saturday's attack, he was grateful for the community who supported him and his wife.
“I would not be OK without this community,” he said.
As for the charges, he said he was pleasantly surprised she faced consequences for the attack. Initially, the Panera workers had come to her aid and treated her as the victim after she had allegedly been hitting him and attempting to hit his wife while screaming obscenities.
“She was the victim, even though they watched me be attacked for over a minute, it was kind of disgusting,” Zahran said. “[So] I wasn't sure if she was going to be charged, but justice is coming for her. It makes me have a little hope for this society.”
Panera did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Monday, DuPage County Judge Joshua Dieden granted a pretrial release for Szustakiewicz that included orders of no contact with Zahran and his wife and no entry to the Panera where the incident happened, according to the DuPage County state's attorney's office.
Szustakiewicz is due for arraignment Dec. 16, according to the state's attorney's office.
"Every member of society, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or any other individual characteristics, deserves to be treated with respect and civility," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement. "This type of behavior and the accompanying prejudice have no place in a civilized society, and my office stands ready to file the appropriate charges in such cases."
Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations-Chicago, condemned the attack in an emailed statement.
"We have long seen how European migrants like this woman feel a bizarre sense of entitlement to regularly harass and accost native Palestinians in their ancestral homeland, knowing they enjoy full impunity and knowing their victims have no recourse," Rehab said. "Now, shockingly but not surprisingly, that same anti-Palestinian hatred has followed them into their new homeland, here in America, where they were born and raised."
Rehab said the incident reflects a larger pattern of hostility toward Palestinian Americans and the larger Muslim community, and that he welcomed the hate crime charges filed against Szustakiewicz.
"Fortunately, ours is a country of laws," Rehab said. "This alleged shameful and abusive behavior has to be understood and called out for what it is, not only in its horrid details but in the context of the larger hateful phenomenon of which it comes. It cannot and will not have a home here."