Over the weekend, a masked man was caught on video allegedly trying to kidnap a 6-year-old boy as the victim held his father's hand on a Brooklyn sidewalk.
WABC TV reported Surveillance video showed a 28-year-old man grabbing the father's hand and pulling the boy so hard that the victim's feet came off the ground, but father and son held firm.
“I don’t think it was a hate crime, but it was scary.”
The incident appears to be over at that point, as the father can be seen in the video quickly turning around and pushing the attacker away.
You can view the video report here A pair of surveillance footage from the incident shows the suspect grabbing a child.
According to WABC, the incident occurred in front of multiple cameras on a block of Kingston Avenue in Crown Heights around 3:30 p.m. Saturday, as the father and son were on their way to a Shabbat gathering.
Incredibly, the boy's mother told police that the suspect was actually her neighbor.
Additionally, the couple told WABC that they had met the suspect before and that he had never said or acted out of the ordinary.
“He always held the door and was always kind,” the mother added to the police station.
The mother also told WABC that she heard from a neighbor that the suspect had something else going on and was having a bad day.
She told the station there had been an increase in anti-Semitic incidents across the city since October 7 last year, and members of the nearby Jewish community were already on edge, but her mother believed it was a hate crime. He added that he did not think so.
“I don't think it was a hate crime, but it was scary,” she told WABC. “It seemed like a horrific incident. Living in New York, you don't expect someone to attack a 6-year-old child and take him away from his parents.”
The mother told police she was proud of the way her husband and son held on to each other.
She told WABC that her son will be undergoing therapy, adding that the family hopes justice will be served in court.
Stephen Sowe is charged with attempted kidnapping, harassment and endangering the welfare of a child, the department said.
What else?
In mid-October, a man was charged with a hate crime in a majority-Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn after he yelled, “I'm going to kill the damn Jews!” during Yom Kippur. Police said the suspect, Mohamed Hashim, uttered abusive language. According to reports, the attack was directed at a 43-year-old man from Borough Park. new york post.
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