2 Men Arrested in Attack on Orthodox Jew in Brooklyn

By JTA January 1, 2016

Two Brooklyn teenagers have been arrested in the beating and robbing of a 60-year-old Jewish man.

Eldin Sabovic, 17, and Baskim Huseinovic, 19, were arrested on Thursday, the New York Post reported. They were charged with robbery and assault. The attack is not considered a hate crime.

The attack took place on Sunday in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, a neighborhood with a large Orthodox Jewish population. The victim wore a kippa. The attack was recorded on a nearby home’s surveillance video.

The victim, whose first name is Eli, was walking down a residential street of single-family homes when a man came from behind, punched him at least four times and threw him to the sidewalk. With the help of an accomplice, the assailant then stole the victim’s iPhone and wallet. The victim was kicked in the head several times, before the assailant and his accomplice, both wearing hoodies, according to WPIX-TV, fled the scene in a black car driven by a third man.

A 17-year-old yeshiva student was attacked in the same neighborhood the following day.

“I’m just in complete shock over the recent spate of violence and brutality,” New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind told Yeshiva World News following the second attack.

Shomrim, a Jewish security patrol, reportedly stepped up its activity in the neighborhood after the attacks.

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