Investigators said that Bargeil consented to an in-depth interview at Cambridge police headquarters. In that interview, Bargeil is said to have denied that the Sept. 19 assault was a hate crime, telling police that the victim was caught up in the middle of another fight.

The report states Bargeil told police that he and an unnamed friend asked a person for money near St. Paul's Church on Bow Street. When the person refused to give them money and called Bargeil a "slob," Bargeil said he intended to hit the person but the victim "got in the way," according to the report.

Following the interview at CPD headquarters, Officer John Poirier placed Bargeil under arrest. Bargeil is being held without bail at the Middlesex County Correctional Facility in Cambridge.

Although CPD has apprehended one suspect, the investigation into the September assault is still ongoing, according to CPD spokesperson Frank D. Pasquarello.

"We are actively pursuing a second individual in relation to this incident and we're confident that the second individual will eventually be brought to justice," Pasquarello said.

He said a second arrest is expected within the next few days.

The victim of the assault declined to comment through his spokesperson, Zayed M. Yasin '02, president of the Harvard Islamic Society (HIS).

Speaking as president of HIS, Yasin praised the arrest.