Hate-crime arrest in cross burning

A white man suspected of burning a cross in a black family's yard in Hawthorne was arrested and charged with a hate crime.

Christopher Hudak's sister was involved in a school fight with a boy from the family hours before the cross appeared last week, State Police Capt. Keith Corlett said. The boy was arrested on a juvenile assault charge.

Hudak, 20, of Cortlandt Manor, was charged with aggravated harassment, Corlett said.

The case will be prosecuted as a hate crime, officials said.