NEW YORK (AP) – Two young white men have been charged with assault as a hate crime for an attack on four Asians that left one victim with a possible fractured skull, prosecutors said Sunday.

A police officer was injured trying to arrest the assailants when one of them put his car in drive and the door closed on the officer’s head and arm, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.

The incident started at 2:30 a.m. Saturday in the Douglaston section.

Four young Asian men were in a white Lexus when Kevin Brown, 19, of Flushing, and Paul Heavey, 20, of Little Neck, pulled alongside them in a Toyota, began cursing and shouting racial slurs and then rammed the Lexus from behind, the district attorney said.

The driver of the Lexus, Reynold Liang, 19, tried to escape, but the two men reappeared when he pulled over and John Lu, 19, got out to inspect the damage to their car, prosecutors said.

The assailants got out of the Toyota and punched Lu about the head and body, causing several loose teeth and cuts that required stitches, prosecutors said.

Liang came to his friend’s aid and was punched and kicked by the attackers, the district attorney said. Liang tried to defend himself with a steering wheel lock, but one of his attackers grabbed it and hit him with it, possibly causing a fractured skull, he said.

Police caught up with Brown and Heavey 20 minutes later in Bayside, but when Officer Graziano Cillo tried to arrest Brown, he put the Toyota into drive, crashing it into the police car and closing its door on Cillo’s head and arm, prosecutors said.

Another officer was injured when Brown flailed his arms while police handcuffed him, the district attorney said.

Both defendants were arraigned Sunday on charges including assault as a hate crime, reckless endangerment as a hate crime and criminal mischief as a hate crime, and Brown was charged additionally with resisting arrest.

Telephone messages left at the offices of the defendants’ attorneys on Sunday were not immediately returned. There were no listed telephone numbers for the defendants’ homes.

The victims were granted temporary orders of protection, said Nicole Navas, a spokeswoman for the district attorney.

The defendants are due back in court Aug. 28.