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Aggressive Panhandler Arrested, Admitted to Psyche Ward

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] — One of Crown Heights’ relatively new faces walking up and down the avenue collecting ‘tzdakah’ was stopped by police and was admitted to the ‘R’ building, which houses the psyche ward, at Kings County Hospital.

The incident took place on Motzai Shabbos when Lawrence ‘Yosef’ Hoffman accosted a person on Kingston between Crown and Carroll, demanding money in a very aggressive manner. The person called police when he did not let up.

When police arrived he became even more belligerent and they were forced to call EMS and have him admitted.

This isn’t Hoffmans first dustup with cops, in his last incident he attacked a 21-year-old and attempted to throw him into Eastern Parkway traffic when he refused to give him money. He was arrested and charged with assault and reckless endangerment.

“Anyone who gives these panhandlers money are feeding their drug habit and endangering the public” said Rabbi Avrohom Leider, of Ahavas Chesesd. He made sure Hoffman was admitted right away and that he would be treated properly.

A search of Hoffmans active cases in court reveal that he has been arrested for various misdemeanor charges, disorderly conduct, and unlawful use and possession of a controlled substance in a public place.

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75 Comments

  • Ahavas Yisroel???

    I’m a self righteous person and I want to say because I have a lot of Ahavas Yisroel…

    Let him do what he want…Poor guy…why you posting this…now is not the time, to much is happening….

    Where is he now, I want to give him a hug and invite him to stay (as long as he wants) in my home with my wife and kids. Maybe he will marry my daughter.

    We need moshiach now!!!

  • To Ahavas Yisroel

    I am in concert with you when it comes to not being mean to him, however he poses a threat… he is aggressive and as his condition continues to grow then he is dangerous.

    for instance he knoks on peoples doors late at night

  • Moshe MS

    go let him marry your daughter im sure it will be a bigger punishment to him then being locked up…

  • TO CH INFO

    I think it is sad and wrong for CH info to post pics of him, as he will eventually be released.
    This is exploitation

  • yossy

    You idiot, you dont have idea how he curse and the words that he uses when he came to the store, go ahed marry your doughter and cry the rest of your life, you need caunseling.

  • RE: Bleeding Hearts

    Your Bleeding Hearts are not only naïve they’re destructive.
    A person with a psychiatric issue must be treated. Being “nice” to him will hurt him, not help him.
    The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Well intended, but net very thought out.
    USE YOUR BRAIN!!!

  • gods right hand man

    words of wisdom is what should be prayed for as to many prayed for another dollar didnt help anyone
    god has more than a sense of humor
    the funny farm was bigger than it should be

  • nebach!

    Nebach! Hospital is the right place for him. Marrying my daughter isn’t a good idea, though. the Shviger will kill him.

  • moshiach now

    It IS ahavas yisroel , This man really needed help. He will hopefully now be on his way to recovery. This same guy once stopped me for tzedakah and I was certain he was going to injure me. He really needed the help he is now getting

  • CHT

    Never give money to healthy (physically, I mean) and young people, I never gave him and encouraged him to find job. If you let healthy and young to continue being panhandler – you destroy him and give absolutely no chance to form into some respectful human being.

    Don’t go rough on first commenter, this is some poor attempt at humor. If this guy turns into a mentch, he has shot at any of our daughters – but he has to take some serious initiative first.

  • thug

    This man has been plauging our community for over a year. How can he removed from the streets??

    Shomrim, Please help!!

  • Mendy Hecht

    The best thing for him is to get arrested and thrown in the psych ward. HE needs to realize that HE’s got the problem, and for that to happen, he really needs to run out of options. He needs to realize that no one will help him and that he’s at the end of his line. Then maybe he’ll reach out for help. If he keeps on getting bailed out by the community and we keep giving him money, then he’ll continue thinking, “Well, no problem–I can always just go back to Kingston.”

  • get rid of him

    There are three of these guys roaming our streets and threating everyone who doesnt give them money for drugs.
    We cannot complain to the cops for not getting protectong us from criminals when we allow these three guys to attack our own families -and not do anything about it?

    Has any of CH.info readers NOT been attacked by these thugs yet??

  • Mommy

    Thank Goodness.
    I dreaded going up Kingston Ave. because of this man.
    And yes, I have given him Tzeddaka, But of course I have to give him the way back home too. Now I can finally have some peace of mind.

  • HaShem Please Help

    Poor guy! I have seen this guy around CH for at least 7 years. He can be very sweet person, but does have issues. I believe some of our true community leaders who help with such problems have tried helping hime before. HaShem yirachem! Please help this neshama’le.

  • no name

    hey i know that guy i gave him tzidukah he looked perfectly normal
    i saw the police ckecking him for anything on kingston im sprized they didnt find drugs and mr ahavas yisroel your right to giver him money but he does need to be treated so he can use the money for food and not drugs
    u’d let him marry your doughter!!! boy do i feel bad for her

  • CHANI

    PLAIN AND SIMPLE
    HE NEEDS HELP
    LET HIM GET MEDICATION AND THERAPY
    THIS IS THE SUPPORT HE NEEDS RIGHT NOW

  • one two three

    I once or twice saw a lady who I felt that she was a muslim. why do we let anyone collect. maybe they are here collecting information not just money????? sorry for being paranoid.

  • Anonymous

    People: STOP with the name calling.

    I disagree with Rabbi Leider’s generalization. NOT all panhandlers are drug addicts. A lot of them are simply homeless, mentally ill, etc. If you were out on the street, sleeping in the cold, didn’t have a support system, you might go a little crazy, too. On the flipside, some panhandlers are not as wacky as they seem and actually make a very good living panhandling.

    Their situations are as diverse as the rest of us.

  • meyer clapman

    “Anyone who gives these panhandlers money are feeding their drug habit and endangering the public” said Rabbi Avrohom Leider, of Ahavas Chesesd. He made sure Hoffman was admitted right away and that he would be treated properly”

    leider! aren’t you running an organization? how can you comment to the public about a specific case you dealt with?? shame on you!

  • pity

    Please be kind enough to think about the mom who might be reading this and see her son. we dont know what the story is, we have to have heart for those who have to live and help and watch him go throgh this challenging phase in his young life.

  • Sedokaaaa lover!!!

    His name is Mr. Sedokaaaa he actually threw me into the intersection of Montgomery and Kingston! And to “ahavas Yisroel” and the rest of u psychos y u offering ur daughters I think u should offer ur wives!!!! “scuse me miss, u have any spair sedokaaaa pls” “no sorry sir” ” oh then go…….. ! This guy deserves a decent wife cmon!

  • in the know

    He needs professional help to overcome drug addiction.
    Im irtzeh Hashem he will now get the help he requires.

  • Never seen stupider comments

    The guy was arrested. In public. It is a matter of public record. Rabbi Lieder did not breach any confidentiality. Stop picking on askanim just because you are bored.

  • anonymous

    they probably post pictures of him so when he does come out of the hospital, pple will know what he looks like and not come close 2 him…just a suggestion!

  • Chutzpah!

    Meyer Clapman, you should be fined for defamation of character (Rabbi Lieder) and sentenced to a month of volunteer work with Rabbi Leider in his soup kitchen.Then let’s see if you actually know something about the people who roam our streets. Rabbi Leider is a hero and how dare anyone say a negative word about him.

  • Mushka

    how dare crown heights.info post something like this
    about a fellow jew!!!!!!!! This is calld ahavas yisroel?
    not only are you embarrassing him, but you are also embarrasing his family! hopefully he’ll get well again
    and wont cause any more problems! i would be very embarrassed
    if i were part of the family and everyone knew!

    Have some repect!

  • TO CHI

    isn’t thos LASHON HARAH the poor man is probably so imbarressed! isn’t there somthing else you can post that wont hurt someone?

    MOSHIACH NOW!

  • A perfect solution

    A perfect solution tell him there is a big reward if he catches Nelson.

  • Anonymous

    I would like to take Lawrence into my home. I think he needs a good home-cooked meal, perhaps a shower, new clothes and some Matisyahu.

    Does anyone know his kugel preference? I promise you! Give me a week and this kid will be turned around 365 degrees!

  • gods right hand man

    ending the adar like approach to collecting and giving tzedokah will help everyone involved see beyond “ i gotta make a dollar today” as it is merely a means to accomplish a goal
    marbeh tzedoka marbeh shalom can happen with instruction
    “go apply for food stamps” “apply for section 8”
    give to gemachs and build NEW buildings
    it isnt like there is nothing to do around here
    hire workers that speak english and are legally allowed to work in crown heights brooklyn new york united states of america
    $1000 a night stay at a hospital comes out of all the peoples income
    most men want a niduyin so having a “meshulach” as a son in law is questionable
    for sakes the chabad community is a bunch of different levlels of tzedakah and a bunch of tzaddeekim
    can anyone afford to read all the comments
    truthfully half the story hasnt been told
    “you want respect from me you gotta respect me, I aint your friend”
    THE TORAH

  • JJ

    i never had a problem with this guy, he has asked me for money and I didnt give him any and he left me alone.

  • and the crazy lady...

    What’s with the crazy old woman next to museum who only accepts 5 dollar bills and curses you:“pretend you don’t see me” or “because of you moshiah is not coming”. shouldn’t she be in the R too… really she scares me seriously!!

  • Inda Know

    Guys, I know Yoseph since he was a small child. He comes from a broken home in Crown Heights. His mother was nishmad, and tried to drag him in too. He resisted. Sure he needs help. Sure we need to be careful to protect ourselves too. But he is one of us!

  • anonymous

    one time i gave a lady on kingston some money, and she screamed at me and threw it back. apparently i didn’t give her enough. sometimes you do chesed and it ends up ok, but other times it is downright scary and weird.

  • ilovemytwins1

    this is awful what about ahvat yisroel so now the one who looses their job and home will be looked down upon this could happen to anyone he could have been starving or freezing. never look down on others unless you want to be in their shoes. Jewish people are suppose to look out for one another and help each other out. whoever called the police should be ashamed of them-self and deserves to be homeless them self for one day that they can feel what they feel

  • sam

    I say we get him into the best rehab. and when he gets out get him a stable job apartment and a new chance in life.

  • Dovber

    I have known yosef for over ten years.I remember the first time i met him, i bumped into him one Tishray, sitting out side 770, alone on a park bench. He was way thinner back then and much more put together, but the look of hurt and sorrow where still written all over his lost soul face just like today, which now, has also turned into a look of aggression.

    He was involved in a bad accident and was PUT ON pain killers, and since then he has never been the same…

    its funny how the soul coming down to this dark and lonely world is compared to YOSEF HATZADICKS descent into Egypt where he was thrown into prison for years on end only to rise as the savvier of Egypt and the world.

    back to our yosef, i see him listening with a shocking amount of concentration on speakers and fobrangers in 770 as well as Rebbe videos, he is one of us, just a bit more lost.

    i believe it was the right decision to have him admitted, he has to know that there are rules in this world that every one most abide by. don’t worry, he will be out and about in no time but hopefully he will have learned a valuable lesson, please G-d.

  • Joseph

    You guys’ only know half the story to let yourself get convinced about anything. If you really want to help him, through court, make him do ‘community service’ so that he has to do ‘that something of a job which is laid out to him. Except his ‘community service’ is his job, which gives him income. With his income he will learn to keep that money , because he has bills to pay. Housing… and all that.

  • sammy .z

    Ahavas isroel is the only way to bring back our rebbi!!! my brothers and friends now is the time for love no place for hate and discrimination.

  • HALLO?

    this is a jewish soul..how can you be so nasty to someone who obviously has problems fitting into community?i hope there are some genuinely GOOD HEARTED people out there who will treat him with respect,love and kindness.and to the people that are cruel imagine if it was your brother/cousin/son.

  • one in the know.

    and the crazy lady,
    So what ? have some rachmanus.. I never carry cash but when she’s there i’ll walk across the street to bank of america to take out some cash.

    Have you seen her “walk” ?!?!

    Are we not rachmanim bnei rachmanim ?!? “al tehi dan adam ad shetamid bimkomo.. uleolam lo yihiye bimkomo”

    Do not judge your fellow man till you stand in his place, since you will never stand in his place.. dont judge!

    BTW theres 1,000 times more gezha FFB’s on drugs..But we are merachem on the kids and family’s and keep quiet.. ive found that FFB’s cant stand someone that looks any different than them.

  • from g building

    what happened to the G building? meshuggeners moved up many letters i see

  • geometry

    “Does anyone know his kugel preference? I promise you! Give me a week and this kid will be turned around 365 degrees”

    um, first of all you mean 180 degrees… second of all there are 360 degrees in a circle (180 + 180)… third of all if he does a 360 then he’s back where he was before… fourth there are 365 days in a secular year…

  • No wonder

    Wow they filled up the “G” building and now they’re up to “R”
    No wonder there are less Wow they filled up the “G” building and now they’re up to “R”

    No wonder there are less tambourine players around.
    around.

  • GF

    http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh…

    A very constructive thing to do with patients whom are repeat offenders. He fits the category since he is a danger to others, and almost pushed someone in the street. Rabbi Lieder should push to get this man the assisted outpatient treatment he needs. This way he will be monitored regularly thus making our streets safer.
    To all those people with a sense of humor on others behalf. This man is severely mentally ill. Mental health hangs on pendulum and one never knows in which direction it will swing. Lets show respect for others.

  • MUSHKA

    THESE COMMENTS ARE SO INSENSITIVE
    CONSIDER THE WORDS: RACHMANOS
    PONDER PLEASE
    B“H IT IS NOT YOU WHO WAS SO STRESSED THAT LED TO THIS,
    OR HAD A DISPOSITIONAL WEAKNESS IN THIS AREA.
    B”H
    AND KEEP SAYING B”H
    OY, THE INSENSITIVITY!
    WHERE (IN YOUR HEART) WILL YOU BE ON YOM KIPPUR?
    DONT WAIT FOR THE MAD RUSH
    THINK NOW.

  • Give him food not money

    I came out of Kol-Tuv and he asked me for money and I told him thatI do not have any cash, however I would be happy to buy him food. He asked me for Orange Juice and I was happy to go back into Kol-Tuv and buy it for him. I was not worried that he would trade in a container of Orange-Juice for drugs.

  • birds eye view

    i am now a bit more comfortable letting my kids leave the house alone thanks to this post.

    but it still doesn’t justify.

    if u want to know whats right then learn some pirkai avot.

    and yes c.h. does have allot more and worse problems (like a man in a hat and a kapata selling drugs to teens…) which we do not have the ability handle ‘right’… here is a chance to do it right why don’t we?!

  • Hamerachem al achzorim

    Enough rachmones on achzorim. This guy belongs off the streets. Full stop. R or Rikers, same difference.

  • Let him get help

    If someone needs help, then thank G-d that he’s getting it! Hey, he’s getting free medical care – including food and housing, so this kind of helps him!

  • moshe levin

    this individual is no different them most alcoholics in CH. the only diffrence is his drug of choice! his happens to cost a lot of money. if he was an alcoholic he would do like all the others in ch with the alcohol dependency and show up at the lchaims and farbrangens.

  • Anonymous

    TO: “Inda Know”
    You say that you know Yosef since he was a child. Did he live on Lefferts Avenue back then?

  • shmzie

    I encourage this recent trend in Lubavtich;

    1) Last week, this site outed serial a wife beater
    2) This week, this site outs the Moshiachtards in AU
    3) And now, we hear that this threatening panhandler has been locked up n a psyche ward

    Solid progress in the right direction. We’re cleaning house!!

    Btw, I think someone ought to call psyche folks to get the Moshiachtards in AU.

    Anyone else also sharing in my optimism?

  • SOMEONE

    he is a dangerous and violent person who should not be around our area for all those of u who are worried about what there kids see and here and come across as they grow up this should be on the top of ur list he has not committed a major offense yet and it is ahavas yisroel to get him the help he needs and buddy that aint happening by letting him into ur house and marrying ur daughter start by working on ahavas yisroel in ur personal life then start telling people how to deal with drugged up and deranged people

  • gaon of g building

    Btw, I think someone ought to call psyche folks to get the Moshiachtards in AU.
    —
    AU? how about the glassy eyed nuts with the shvil and dollars and other clown shows in 770? AU is a joke compared to that which is a real problem. Chabad should buy the old G building (since it’s G let Gutnick pay for it :)) and use it to build a new shul for these meshuggeners.

  • pesha leah azoulay-s sister

    please don’t judge a book by its cover – we dont know his past and we dont know his future all we can do is help him improve his present – ad moshi but it wont come untill we stop disrespecting all neshomos here – even the one whose flame may not be bright

  • Disgusted

    Pesha Leah Azoulay AH’s sister is sitting or just got up from shiva. To use this as a screen name is just plain disgusting.

    Sorry, but this person is dangerous and belongs off the streets. It is in fact rachmonus to make sure he is in a mental institution where perhaps he can be treated – and if he is untreatable then it is a bigger rachmonus to make sure he is far, far away from any place where he can throw innocent people into traffic for refusing to help him pay for his drug habit.

  • orle

    Wow you people all need help not this poor guy u guys,his young man just trying make out here ,and all you people giving him cold shoulder talkin about your own kind,You all should be shamed his lost and he needs help,instead of helping him you makin joke out of him wow. You guys real need get a life.

  • freezing

    Many psychiatric hospitals have closed since a movement in the 70s to free the mentally ill from a life of institutionalization. Now they are out on the streets. It is a pity because even their own families cannot keep them at home because they totally disrupt family life. It is not like getting “help” will make them well either. Most of them are incurably ill with mental illness. Medication is not always the answer and sometimes the side effects are worse than the illness. Day programs, soup kitchens, and shelters might keep them off the streets and out of harm’s way. They obviously should not be allowed to hurt people and neither should they be allowed to demand money. Demanding money in a way that makes the person feel that he will be physically harmed if he does not give is equal to robbery. Giving food, as was stated above, is better than handing over cash to a drug addict. People are not obligated to give large amounts to panhandlers no matter how aggressive they are.

  • Jack

    This guy is critical and he is a threat and does not belong in or anywhere near the Jewish streets of Ch
    He has threatened me before.
    He has the behavior that of a drug addict. Anyone here who pity’s him should give him a warm meal. other than that he’s got shelter (770) and he’s got nice people looking out for him.

    good day.

  • A JEW!

    He needs a “SHADOW” [(a person who follows him)] when he asks for money tell them “DONT GIVE HIM” and stop him from hurting people!