What to Know
- A 14-year-old faces hate crime charges after police alleged he sprayed two men with a fire extinguisher on separate occasions in Brooklyn.
- The first reported incident involved a 72-year-old man said he was approached by an unknown group and sprayed, police said.
- Another victim, a 66-year-old man, was sprayed and punched in a separate incident, police said.
A 14-year-old faces hate crime charges after police alleged he sprayed two men with a fire extinguisher on separate occasions in Brooklyn.
The teen, who was not identified due to his status as a minor, was arrested Monday and faces assault as a hate crime, assault and aggravated harassment charges, police said. Attorney information for the juvenile was not immediately clear.
According to police, officers responded to a 911 call in the vicinity of Taylor Street and Lee Avenue in Williamsburg on Aug. 21 around 6:06 a.m. When they arrived, a 72-year-old man said he was approached by a group of unidentified individuals, and one sprayed him with a powder from a fire extinguisher, police said, adding that apparently words were not exchanged between the two parties leading up to the attack.
Police said they responded to another call that same day in the area of Roebling and 3rd streets for a similar attack to a 66-year-old man who was also sprayed on with fire extinguisher and then punched by an individual in a group that approached him. The man refused medical attention on scene.
NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said that hate crime arrests are up more than 100 percent in 2022 over the previous year, and that arrests in Jewish communities have jumped 45 percent. But leaders in those communities said that the increase in arrests won't matter as long as they're working with a broken system.
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"In a couple of days, the school year is going to start. Thirty-thousand kids are going to flood these streets, and we're terrified," said Rabbi Sam Stern, adding that many in the area are living in fear.
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Another local rabbi, Moishe Indig, said much of the problem stems from offender recidivism.
"If you have mice in your house, don't blame the mice. The problem is the hole you didn't properly close in your house," Indig said. "If the system is letting them out in 2, 6, 8 hours, they are here again."
Lawmakers in Albany have rejected changes to the current bail reform system, which critics have blamed for the recidivism.
"I think what we continue to see every day across the city are recidivists. We see the same people we are arresting being let back out to inflict more harm," Sewell said. She also said that in the wake of the attacks, the NYPD has deployed around-the-clock patrols to routinely visit synagogues.
Police made public video and photos related to the incidents and urge anyone with information to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
