Suspect Arrested in Queens Rock Throwing Hate Crime

By Matis Glenn

A Brooklyn man was arrested for allegedly throwing a rock at an Orthodox Jewish man in Queens two weeks ago, according to Shmira.

Kenneth Azague, 21, of Bushwick, was arrested for allegedly throwing a rock at a 23-year-old yeshiva student who was entering Bais Yosef d’Ulam, Harav Yaakov Friedman’s shul, for Shabbos morning tefilos at around 9:00 a.m..

The rock was allegedly thrown from the passenger side of a large white van with distinctive markings, which Hate Crimes Task Force officers were able to track down with the help of Shmira.

The victim tripped on the rock but was not injured. After Shabbos, he contacted Shmira and they began an investigation, which was picked up by the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force.

Shmira assisted in contacting neighbors to piece together surveillance footage of the incident and the vehicle’s subsequent travels. After leaving the block of the shul, located at 139-19 72nd Road, the van was seen on surveillance footage headed towards the “Charm Circle” area.

Police located Azague in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn and arrested him on Friday, at around 12:00 p.m. He was charged with hate crime related charges.

“Hate Crimes Task Force believes strongly that they will be able to prosecute,” Shmira Coordinator of Neighborhood Affairs Shabsie Saphirstein told Hamodia. “we’re grateful as a neighborhood that that the Hate Crime Task Force picked us up really quickly that they jumped on it and they didn’t give up.”