NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – The NYPD is searching for a man in a suspected antisemitic hate crime this week in which two Hasidic boys were pushed, punched and kicked on a Brooklyn sidewalk.
The NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force released images of the suspect Friday as police continue to search for him in Sunday night's caught-on-video attack in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
The boys were playing with a group of kids on a sidewalk on Franklin Avenue, near Myrtle Avenue, at 9 p.m. when the male—who investigators believe is 18–20 years old—rode by on a Citi Bike and shouted at them, police said.
"Get off the sidewalk," he reportedly said as he passed.
He then returned, got off the bike and walked up to the boys.
He pushed the 13-year-old to the ground, punched the 11-year-old, and then kicked and stomped on the 11-year-old while he was on the ground, according to police and video posted to social media.
The boys were treated at the scene by EMS.
Their attacker fled on the bike and was last seen headed southbound on Franklin Avenue towards Willoughby Avenue.
Anti-Jewish hate crimes were up 100% in April, according to NYPD stats released last week. Antisemitic crimes are by far the most common type of hate crimes in the city, police data shows, making up half of all reported hate crimes in April.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
