BY ANDREW STRICKLER

Marcello Lucero's last minutes were filled with desperation and terror, a Suffolk prosecutor said yesterday.

Surrounded by seven teens "determined" to hurt him because he was Hispanic, blood streaming down his face, Lucero vainly tried to fend off his attackers with a belt before one stepped forward and plunged a knife into his chest.

The youths accused of carrying out the attack, students at Patchogue-Medford High School, were arraigned yesterday on gang assault charges. Prosecutors said they all admitted to some involvement.

The man accused of wielding the knife - Jeffrey Conroy, 17 - is also charged with first-degree manslaughter. He is the first to be charged in Suffolk with a hate crime in connection with a homicide since the statute was enacted in 2000.

In front of a Central Islip courtroom at times crowded with the defendants' sobbing family members, Assistant District Attorney Nancy Clifford said the group plotted late Saturday to target a Hispanic stranger in a racially motivated attack. They used an ethnic slur, derisively calling such attacks "Beaner jumping," Clifford said.

"In their own words, 'Let's go find some Mexicans to -- up,'" Clifford said before District Court Judge Toni Bean.

Lucero, 38, who immigrated to the United States from Ecuador 16 years ago and worked in a Riverhead dry cleaning shop, was killed near the Long Island Rail Road station in Patchogue.

Conroy and five of his co-defendants are white; one defendant is Hispanic. A grand jury will be presented with the case Thursday and will consider other charges, Clifford said.

Conroy was held without bail. Christopher Overton, 16, was held on $250,000 bail or $500,000 bond. Kevin Shea, Jordan Dasch, Nicholas Hausch, Anthony Hartford and Jose Pacheco, all 17, were held on $150,000 bail or $300,000 bond. All pleaded not guilty and were scheduled to return to court on Friday.

The attack drew outrage and denouncements from local, state and national leaders.

Gov. David A. Paterson said state law enforcement agencies would assist Suffolk "in any way possible to ensure swift and certain justice for this heinous crime."

The crime unfolded after the youths drove around in search of Hispanic men, settling on the area near the station because they believed it had a high number of Hispanic residents, officials said.

Spotting Lucero and a male friend, the youths surrounded the pair "like a lynch mob," Clifford said. As the group began to attack, Lucero's friend escaped before Shea punched Lucero in the face, officials said. Conroy then stabbed Lucero once before the group fled.

Clifford described an attack days earlier in which one or more of the suspects knocked a Hispanic man down but he got away. "They were determined this was not going to happen again," Clifford said, referring to that man's escape.

Suffolk police are doing a "comprehensive investigation" to determine whether the teens are linked to other attacks.

After police located the group minutes after the attack, all seven spoke with detectives, according to the complaints. Conroy said "we went to Patchogue to beat up [Hispanics]. I stabbed him once in the shoulder I think." Others said they went together to find Hispanic men to attack, but only learned later that Conroy had stabbed Lucero. Clifford said a knife was recovered from Conroy.

Police could not explain the alleged involvement of Pacheco, who also spoke derogatorily of Hispanics, according to his complaint. Pacheco is dark skinned; his father is from Puerto Rico, said his attorney, Chris Kirby of Syosset. "That certainly raised some interesting questions about why one Hispanic would be targeting another Hispanic," Kirby said.

"Not everyone present during the incident was responsible for what happened," said Anthony LaPinta, who represents Overton, the youngest of the group. He acknowledged Overton was "in the vicinity" but said his client did not drive there with the other suspects. He denied the attack was planned. "There was no hunting," LaPinta said.

Bob Botcher, 64, who has lived in the area since he was a child, said he was shocked at the crime. "I go to the deli and the Hispanic customers say hi to me, I go to the laundromat and they hold the door open for me - everyone gets along."

But the Rev. Dwight Lee Wolter, pastor of the Congregational Church of Patchogue, said, "Tensions exist here - that's the reality. The challenge after a horrible event like this is to rise above the tension."

Federal officials said the U.S. Attorney's office is monitoring the case for potential federal civil rights violations.

Staff writers Dave Marcus, Laura Rivera and Robert E. Kessler contributed to this story.

HATE CRIME STATS

More than 50 percent of hate crimes reported nationwide in 2007 were racist acts, according to an FBI report released last month. Assault was the third-most common hate crime, the report found.

DROPPING IN SUFFOLK

Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said the number of crimes against Hispanics reported to his department and designated as bias crimes dropped from 16 cases in 2004 to six in 2005. In 2006, six anti-Hispanic crimes were reported and in 2007, one.

THIS YEAR

In addition to the stabbing death of Marcello Lucero, one other anti-Hispanic crime was classified as a bias crime this year, Dormer said.

IN NASSAU

There were five anti-Hispanic crimes in 2006 and four in 2007. Police could not immediately provide figures for this year, said spokesman Det. Vincent Garcia.