American man charged with Hertel Ave hate crime from 2020 arrested in Arkansas after skipping court

Michael J. Cremen, who faced a hate crime charge for the Hertel Avenue incident that was caught on video, failed to show up for several court appearances and was indicted by a grand jury in May on a charge of second-degree bail jumping, prosecutors said.

By Edward Era Barbacena

Aformer Western New Yorker who confronted Black Lives Matter demonstrators with a knife while using a racial slur in the summer of 2020 is being held without bail in the Erie County Holding Center after being taken into custody in Arkansas, the Erie County District Attorney's Office said.

Michael J. Cremen, who faced a hate crime charge for the Hertel Avenue incident that was caught on video, failed to show up for several court appearances and was indicted by a grand jury in May on a charge of second-degree bail jumping, prosecutors said. 

Cremen, 50, who last showed up for a court appearance in July 2021, was picked up by the Baxter County Sheriff's Office and transported by U.S. marshals back to Buffalo earlier this week, prosecutors said. He was arraigned on the new felony charge Friday.

For the original incident, Cremen faces a felony charge of second-degree menacing as a hate crime, as well as second-degree harassment, a violation.