Teen Attacks Jew with Stick Minutes After being Released

A Jewish man was violently assaulted in an unprovoked attack while crossing a street in Crown Heights on Monday afternoon.

The incident occurred at around 3:50pm at the intersection of Empire Boulevard and Albany Avenue. The victim was accosted as he was crossing the street by a black teenager carrying a wooden stick. When the victim realized he was about to be assaulted he attempted to flee.

The victim ran into the cleaners owned by R’ Shloime Junik, whose son tried opening the door to provide shelter to the victim, though not fast enough. The attacker managed to swing and strike the victim over his back and shoulder causing the stick to break in half. The perpetrator then threw the second piece into the store and striking both the victim and another bystander and causing further injuries.

Attempting the flee, the suspect ran down Albany Avenue into Lefferts park with multiple witnesses chasing after him. Both Shomrim and police were called and the suspect was apprehended, police arrived a short while later and arrested the suspect.

Officers at the NYPD 71st Precinct said the attacker was arrested earlier for a petit larceny for stealing orange juice from a deli shop at 592 Albany Avenue.

The man was given a Desk Appearance Ticket (DAT), an order issued by the police to appear in Criminal Court to respond to an accusation of committing an offense. He was then released from custody.

On the way home, the man was in possession of a tree branch and used it to assault a Lubavitcher chossid causing a cut and bruise to the victim's shoulder, police confirmed.

Police and Hatzalah were called to the scene. The perpetrator was found a few blocks away and arrested again - this time for felony assault. The NYPD's hate crimes unit was notified about the attack.

"We will be investigating the crime as a possible hate crime," an NYPD official told COLlive.com.

Click Here for photos.

Surveillance footage of the incident.


The Suspect Being Arrested

Click Here For Another Video

Another angle of the perpetrator