A Rockville Center police detective has been charged with a hate crime after authorities said Wednesday he harassed a cell phone company worker by damaging his vehicle while using a racial slur.

Police said John Murphy, 40, of Manorville, was charged with two counts of criminal mischief as a hate crime and one count of aggravated harassment. Murphy, identified by authorities as a Rockville Center detective, is arraigned Wednesday in First District Court in Central Islip. It was not immediately clear if he is represented by an attorney.

A Village of Rockville Center spokeswoman, Julie Grilli, said in a statement Wednesday, “The Village of Rockville Center does not comment on personnel matters.”

Police said the incident happened around 7pm on Sunday, November 3, when Murphy accosted a subcontractor for a mobile phone company while he was working on a GMC Terrain at the corner of Sylvan Court and Weeks Avenue in Manorville. Police said Murphy questioned what the subcontractor was doing in the area, then identified himself as “a law enforcement officer” — but “refused to look at the worker’s credentials.”

In a statement Wednesday detailing the incident and arrest, police said Murphy “kicked the GMC causing damage, ripped off the light attached to the top of the vehicle and threw it at the worker, who is black, while using a racial slur.”

On Wednesday, Suffolk District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney issued a statement, saying that “the victim here was just trying to do his job when the defendant allegedly harassed him and damaged his vehicle. officer, responsible for protecting the rights of citizens, rather than infringing them, as is alleged here”.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and the Silurian Society for investigative, business and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee’pea,” a book about former New York basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti appears in ESPN’s Emmy Award-winning 30 for 30 “Big Shot.”