Reward increased in Elmont acid attack on Nafiah Ikram

Nassau County police have issued numerous search warrants and conducted several interviews as they inch closer to identifying the man who threw acid in the face of a Hofstra student from Elmont in March 2021, Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said Wednesday, while announcing an increased reward for information leading to an arrest.

Nassau detectives, working with the FBI, believe the yet-unidentified attacker of Nafiah Ikram, 23, is from the Elmont community. Authorities have been attempting to narrow the suspect pool using video surveillance from the scene, which shows a red 2013 to 2015 Nissan Altima with yellow license plates fleeing and heading east.

"We're a lot further on [in the investigation] than we were on Day One," Ryder said at a news conference with Ikram, her parents and county lawmakers in Mineola. "We're going to find you and we're going to lock you up."

The county has increased the reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect from $40,000 — $20,000 from the county and $20,000 from the FBI — to $50,000. The county is increasing its share of the reward to $30,000, officials said. 

Ryder described the suspect as male, 6-2 with a thin build, who was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and gloves.

'Still suffering'

Ikram has undergone eight surgeries since the brutal assault on March 17, 2021, outside her Arlington Avenue home, which left her face disfigured and blinded in her right eye. She cannot drive, suffers from PTSD, attends classes only part-time and has difficulty performing basic tasks, particularly after each surgery, such as showering and making her bed.

"I don't even want to know why [I was targeted] at this point," Ikram told reporters. "I just want them to be found because nobody should ever, ever, ever have to experience this. I want this to be the reason that they're found — justice for me and also to prevent other people from getting hurt. Because if they could do this to me, I'm sure they'll do it to someone else without even a second thought."

Ikram and her mother, Sherina Mohamed, had just returned home from shopping on the evening of the attack. Mohamed had gone into the house while Ikram was walking up the driveway when a man sneaked up from behind and threw acid in her face. The attack was captured on surveillance video.

Ikram told Newsday in August that she initially thought the substance was warm juice, but that she soon felt intense pain as the liquid burned her skin.

The attack left Ikram needing, among other issues, eye surgery for a cornea infection. With the acid burning her throat, she also needed procedures to dilate her esophagus.

She recently had an eighth surgery, which left the sutures in her mouth so tight that she was unable to use a straw or to brush her teeth for more than a week. Ikram said she lost 11 pounds in 10 days.

"I'm still suffering to this day," Ikram said. "I still need surgery to remove the scarring. I still can't open my mouth. I have scars all over my face, and they're still not even halfway done."

Ikram called her attacker "inhumane" and said he "should not be allowed to walk the streets and breathe the same air I do."

Ryder said he's confident someone in the community has information about the attacker.

"Someone out there knows who this coward is," he said, adding that it's unclear if the attack was a hate crime. "Let's bring this coward to justice with the help of the community."

But until the perpetrator is arrested, Ikram said, she'll never feel safe.

"Knowing who did this will 100 percent help me feel a little better and a little bit safer when I'm outside and a little bit more confident that I won't be attacked," she said.

The increased reward, Mohamed said, gives her renewed hope that her daughter's attacker will be brought to justice.

"When I see my daughter suffer. I'm surprised that we're all alive at this moment," Mohamed said, tears streaming down her face. "Please have a heart. … We know somebody knows something. Be a Good Samaritan and please come forward. That's all we're asking. Be a human being."

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.