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The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office has filed a bias intimidation charge against the 16-year-old Edison boy who punched a Jewish man near Rabbi Jacob Joseph Yeshiva on the second night of Rosh Hashanah.

After the boy was initially charged with juvenile delinquency in the aggravated assault of the 19-year-old man, the Prosecutor's Office said the bias charge was added Oct. 2 following an investigation by Sgt. John Rodriguez of the prosecutor's Bias Crimes Unit.

The new charge accuses the boy of targeting the man because of his religion, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

Following the beating, an initial investigation did not reveal evidence of a bias incident, but subsequent information obtained by the Edison Police Department and the Prosecutor's Office led to the filing of a bias incident report Sept. 23.

Before the bias intimidation charge could be levied, the Prosecutor's Office needed to determine exactly why the punch was thrown, Edison Lt. Joseph Shannon told The Jewish State. As the suspect is a minor, the case will be handled by the juvenile court system, Shannon said.

The victim, who was walking with a group of males down Woodbridge Avenue near the yeshiva Sept. 19, suffered an eye laceration after being punched in the head. The suspect was walking in a group of three individuals, Shannon said, and only the boy who threw the punch was arrested.

Regarding three large swastikas that were spray painted on Edison's Congregation Beth-El after Yom Kippur, Shannon said the incident is still under investigation and that a suspect or suspects have not yet been identified. The Anti-Defamation League is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.