Alleged Perv who Shot at Shomrim Claims Self Defense

An alleged pervert who shot up four members of a Jewish patrol group when they cornered him following complaints of exposing himself claimed self-defense at his trial Tuesday.

David Flores, 36, is charged with attempted murder of Brooklyn Shomrim volunteers in September 2010 during a wild melee in Borough Park. Flores is charged with shooting Abe Kaztow, Abraham “Motty” Brauner, Joel Klein and Motty Perl – all four of whom are volunteers with Boro Park Shomrim.

“They couldn’t wait for the police to arrive,” prosecutor Lindsay Ashwa said of the neighborhood watchmen. “He had a loaded firearm. He was going to do anything he could to avoid being arrested for public lewdness.”

But defense lawyer Douglas Appel countered that his client didn’t draw his weapon until a mob of “Jewish Orthodox males” suddenly attacked him.

“They surrounded his car and they were banging on his windows,” said Appel. “They dragged him across the street and they were savagely beating him,” Appel claimed in opening arguments, noting no 911 calls were made until after shots have been fired.

“Please get me to the police, they’re trying to kill me,” a bloodied Flores purportedly told medics, Appel said.

The largely-Jewish neighborhood was already on high alert after a man matching the defendant’s description was seen exposing himself twice the week before.

Mother-of-five Sarah Rubinstein, 33, testified she saw Flores [..] in a double-parked car while watching her children play with friends on the sidewalk.

She then called the Shomrim, sparking the short dragnet that ended with the suspect’s car sandwiched in traffic, the prosecutor said.

The Pennsylvania man, whose mom lives in Brooklyn, can get up to 100 years in prison if convicted for the four top counts of attempted murder.

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