Williamsburg Hit-and-Run Attacker Caught by Shomrim

The man who drove his car into a group of Orthodox Jews on the sidewalk in Williamsburg has been arrested, after someone spotted the car and alerted Shomrim.

Williamsburg Shomrim assisted the NYPD in arresting the alleged perpetrator on Sunday around 6 p.m. at Franklin Ave. near Park Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Shokhobiddin Bakhritdinov, 26, has been charged with leaving the scene of the incident, the New York Post reported. A spokesman from Williamsburg Shomrim told Hamodia that the police in the local 90th precinct were in the process of interviewing Bakhritdinov, and he so far “didn’t say anything, didn’t admit anything.”

He told Hamodia the hate crime investigative unit is not involved as of now.

The minivan Bakhritdinov was driving was caught on camera backing into a group of five men on the sidewalk at Wythe and Rutledge Avenues in Williamsburg on Motzoei Shabbos, at 10:15 p.m. The video shows the minivan backing up even though no cars were nearby, leaving many to speculate it was a deliberate attempt to harm the Jewish pedestrians.

In the video, the men fell to the floor and the car lingered. As others nearby rushed to help, the minivan pulled away.

Williamsburg Shomrim reported that thankfully none of the men were seriously injured. One was taken to the hospital to have his foot examined but has since been released.