NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A pair of attackers punched and robbed a man as he was walking to a synagogue in Brooklyn early Friday morning in an incident police are investigating as a possible hate crime, the NYPD said.
The 41-year-old man was walking south on New York Avenue, between Avenues J and K in East Midwood, around 5:45 a.m. when one of the attackers approached him from behind and punched him in the face, police said.
The second suspect joined in on the attack soon after, surveillance video shared by the Flatbush Shomrim Safety Patrol on Twitter shows.
Both suspects made off with the man's bag, which contained several religious artifacts, as well as a black and white religious cloak, the NYPD said.
All of the items except the cloak were recovered after the attack, but the two suspects hadn't been arrested as of Friday afternoon, police said.
The NYPD is investigating the robbery as a possible bias incident, the department confirmed to 1010 WINS.
The Shomrim Safety Patrol is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the suspects' arrest.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.
