A Howard Beach teenager accused of savagely beating a black man with a baseball bat was accused of a hate crime in a 19-count indictment filed yesterday in Queens.

The charges in the indictment filed yesterday in State Supreme Court in Kew Gardens, against Nicholas Minucci, 19, include four counts of assault as a hate crime, two counts of assault, six counts of robbery as a hate crime, three counts of robbery, and one count each of criminal possession of stolen property and criminal possession of a weapon.

Court documents state that Minucci, a Howard Beach resident, told the investigating detective that three black males tried to rob him on June 29. When the alleged robbers fled, Minucci, armed with a bat, and his friend went searching for them, the documents say. Minucci told the detective, the documents state, that he used racial epithets. When Mr. Moore fell, Minucci allegedly told the investigator that he hit him with the aluminum bat several times. The alleged robbery in the case stems from the accusation that Minucci and Ench allegedly took Mr. Moore’s sneakers.

“Spewing hateful racial slurs, the defendant’s alleged conduct was as primitive as the club he used,” the Queens district attorney, Richard Brown, said.

As a result of the attack, Mr. Brown said, Mr. Moore suffered a fractured skull and other injuries.

Officers from the Police Department’s Hate Crimes Unit arrested Minucci about 11 hours after the alleged crime.

Whether Minucci targeted Mr. Moore because of the color of his skin is subject to debate.

Minucci’s lawyer, Michael Schwed, argued it was not a racially motivated incident because his client only sought Mr. Moore after the latter robbed him. Mr. Schwed would not say whether Minucci uttered racial slurs, but said his client did not strike Mr. Moore with a bat. Moreover, he said, the incident “had nothing to do with the color of his skin.”

Minucci could have been freed on $500,000 bond and $250,000 cash, but violation of probation received after an assault in 2002, called for his being held without bail.

If convicted, Minucci could receive a sentence of eight to 25 years, the Queens district attorney’s office said. His next court date is November 4.

The defendant’s alleged accomplice, Anthony Ench, 22, of Howard Beach, pleaded guilty October 11 to attempted robbery and attempted assault as a hate crime. He is expected to get two years in prison at his sentencing today.