Attempted Assault on 2 Jews in Bensonhurst Shavuos Morning

A group of teenagers assaulted and menaced two Jews in Bensonhurst early Shavuos morning.

Around 4:32 a.m. Friday, a 25-year-old man was walking home from an all-night learning session. Just steps from his house on 78th Street near 21st Avenue, he encountered what he described to Hamodia as three dark-skinned, masked teens. One of the teens, who was also wearing a hoodie, began yelling and cursing at the man, and attempted to strike him several times. The man, who was carrying a shopping bag of sefarim, swung the bag at the assailant and successfully fought him off.

“After I swung the bag a few times, it tore, and I fell to the ground,” the man said. “He tried to punch me while I was on the ground, but I kept kicking at him, and he ran away.”

The teens fled down 21st Avenue, where they encountered another Jewish man near 77th Street. The group surrounded the man and began swinging at him and screaming. But the man yelled, scaring off the teens.

Surveillance footage also shows the teens attempting to break into cars on 78th Street minutes before the first assault.

The first victim filed a report with the NYPD.

—

rborchardt@hamodia.com