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CROWN HEIGHTS [CHI] — Earlier today a 10-year-old Jewish boy was mugged at gunpoint while on his way home from school.

10-Year-Old Jewish Boy Mugged at Gunpoint

CROWN HEIGHTS [CHI] — Earlier today a 10-year-old Jewish boy was mugged at gunpoint while on his way home from school.

The terrifying incident took place at around 4:15pm in front of the Laundromat on Crown street and Troy Avenue, where the boy was suddenly grabbed from behind and was told calmly “don’t scream, I have a gun…” and the mugger pressed a hard object into his back “…can you feel it?” paralyzed with fear the boy nodded, “hand over your phone, and then keep walking away calmly and do not yell, if you do I will shoot you.” And the mugger ran off.

Shocked and stunned the boy ran home where he told his mother what had happened, and she called 911.

Together with police the family tried to find the mugger, who made off with the kids iPhone, but were unsuccessful and he got away. After the mother and her son went down to the police precinct to be interviewed by detectives.

The boy was walking home because Oholei Torah does not provide bus transportation to the 5th grade an up; parents are required to make transportation arrangements on their own.

This incident is the second time a Jewish child was the target of a strong armed robbery in less than a week. In the last incident a 10 year old was beaten and his backpack was stolen, as we have reported.

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50 Comments

  • ohis vorrff

    idiots its time 2 demostrate , yes block trafic all over the hood .. lets do it now today 2morro ..
    dont be sitting ducks..make some noize

  • The obvious question

    Why does a 10 year old boy have an iphone? Surely this is not necessary, and as unfair as it may be, expensive items make people targets.

    Don’t let your kids walk around flaunting cell phones, ipods, DS etc. This will make them targets.

    Hope this poor boy get’s over the trauma.

    Oh, and before the slew of comments come in about him being alone, 10 years old is not too young to walk home alone in this neighborhood.

  • Do something

    Crazy. There should be a major demonstration in front of the police station and letters should be sent to Mayor Bloomberg. someone post contact info for mayor office. we can’t wait till c”v someone gets serious hurt.

  • Joseph G.

    What is going on here? Where are the police? Instead of writing bogus tickets and summonses, there should be patrol. Boys on the way home from school should not be being attacked weekly! Enough already!

  • CHer

    1. There is no proof there was a gun. It could have even been a toy or another object.

    2. A demonstration? For what? People get mugged all the time.

    3. Read the article, Joseph. The police looked for the attacker. Chances of finding the criminal go way down the longer one waits to contact police.

    How did nobody witness this?

  • hood rat

    the police r sending a msg. to the hood rats ,that its ok to beat up and rob jews. by not doing anyting about it ,,,

    its time to make noize and to stop trafic and mass to get arested , so it will be heard all over the world and down town ,lets go

  • Outraged

    This would NOT be ignored in other communities. We cannot just turn a blind eye and say “oh, vey”. There must be some serious achdus within our community where we ALL get together (men, women, and children) to either demonstrate or demand an emergency meeting with community and police officials. We can’t allow our children to walk around in fear, noone for that matter should walk around in fear!!

  • WE NEED A JEWISH CURTIS SLIWA

    WE NEED A JEWISH CURTIS SLIWA.

    Someone who knows Curtis should ask him if he would help CH organize a group like the Guardian Angels in Black Hats instead of red hats that would be available in large numbers to be seen and maybe escort students around the area.

    I am sure there are a huge number of older boys that would volunteer to patrol our streets in large groups to deter the preditors. If we continue to let them take over our streets we are finished as a ommunity.

  • shayna

    How do we actually organize a demonstration? Who will get this process started so we can make our voices heard and the facts heard?

  • shayna

    To number 9: Yes crime happens all the time. Demonstrations prove that a community demands higher stakes for criminals, more funding to prevent crime. Media attention achieves public outrage, which draws attention to the mayor and his responsibility to prevent crime in all boroughs of NYC

  • Out of here

    Let’s get out of this crime infested hole. Lets make a shchunah where our children have a backyard and they can walk to yeshiva in peace. I know the rebbe said to stay! That was a long time ago, and things change!!!

  • hood rat

    wake up guys ..we have no police .–we have no vadd hakol–we have no acduss in our community. zaki tamir dosent care in till gets muged himself , we are scrued . we have only a hand full of somriem who cant be evry were,, we need grass roots to start some action , dont ask no rabbi just do some thing like pincus ben elazar hacohen

  • Mr Beast

    Mr Bist said that machashaifa mica said:
    that mica machashifa talk to sgt Troise to tell
    everyone that the kid was not 10 he was 9.5 and it was not an iPhone but a diffrent phone and the POLICE wants to make it clear that only machashaifa and the bist can write about police . and the machashaifa is sleeping now.

  • nothing new

    #19 is very wrong as a seven year old in california i would go to the library and other places myself walk or use a bus.
    So it is the place that has a problem

  • Maple Street

    I agree with #17. The Rebbe would draw the line at 10 year olds at gunpoint, I believe. Two in two weeks?? What are we trying to prove? STAYING ALIVE, especially our children (!!) comes first for Yidden! The Rebbe is with the shluchim wherever they are, and the same goes for all Chassidim and Jews…

  • to number 9

    You dont get it!!! instead of the cops looking out for people stopping their car for 15 seconds and giving the tickets, and chasing people who ride their bikes on the sidewalk for a second… Look out for criminals! That is what they are here for!

  • Police police police where are you?????

    How can a boy walk alone anymore without a feeling that he might be mugged.
    Where are the police?
    I just happen to see a police car parked outside dunkin doughnuts everytime I pass bye.

  • GREAT IDEA-MAKE IT HAPPEN,LIKE YESTERDAY

    Re #12–Don’t just think about it being a good…er, great idea. Actually do something immediately. Even I would sign up, and I’m a mother. It’s definitely what CH needs. Get going and organzie, please.

  • CHer

    Shayna – Remember in the Summer when the young girl got into a quarrel with some boys, was dragged into the park and suffered a concussion when her head was hit against the slide? Where was the demonstration after that? What happened with all the talk about community patrols?

    All this community does is TALK. But when it breaks rules, it wants everybody else to look the other way.

    #23, let me get this straight. You want the police to only do part of their job? Did it ever occur to you that people can get hurt when bikes are on the sidewalk or that muggings can occur more frequently if bikes are allowed? What is your solution to look out for criminals?

    I don’t mind the cops giving out tickets to drivers because I’ve been almost hit enough times by people on their phones, not paying attention, racing down the street or not caring that a pedestrian has the right of way. When I come home, I see cops near the subways, on “hot” corners where there are shootings and heavy activity.

    If you don’t want to get robbed, don’t carry things a thief would want. Don’t carry a purse. Conceal your valuables inside your coat. Insure your items, get the proper app for your iPhone so you can track it if it gets stolen. Use your brain!

    When there is a crime, the police have to be contacted IMMEDIATELY. You do not wait and go home. You go to the safest, closest place right away and ask for help. The longer you wait, the less chance there is of the police being able to help you.

    Commenters/whiners have criticized the police for this article but the it clearly states that they tried, they worked with the family so what are you criticizing for? If the boy didn’t see who the mugger was, if a considerable amount of time had passed and there are no witnesses, there’s not much else the police can do.

  • class

    Kurtis, where are you?????

    The public schools are not taking responsibility for these kids who are neglected and/or abused and then they go out on the street and they suffer and we suffer

  • A Parent

    O.T. does provide buses, Moshe”s bus goes, my son goes on the 5pm bus, get your facts right.

  • Moshe

    “10-Year-Old Jewish Boy Mugged at Gunpoint”

    Is this Mexico or The United States?!!!

  • annonymous

    running away from crown heights and not following the Rebbes advice is not the solution.
    saftey patrols and demmonstrations can be the solution.

  • where the police

    ok. some of u write out of your behinds. its a free country kids can have an IPOT if ther parints let them. its the blacks that need to know they wont get away with this. if the police show and make sure to stop the craim. it will make them thing twice

  • CCTV

    Encourage stores and homeowners to get Cameras, the more cameras the bigger the chance to find criminals.
    Perhaps the Vaad Hakohol can organize a discount for this.
    (and if the Vaad won’t, maybe the good people at Shomrim will).

  • upset

    where the hell is the tamir guy we voted for???!!??!??!? you guys are a bunch of good for nothings and the vaad hakhal should be ashamed of themselves. they dont do a bloody thing for the community!!

  • Going Blind

    For everyone who reads this site man can you please pretty pretty please put a spell check feature in???? it is sad to read the comments here,coming from OT i can understand its hard but just type your comments in MS word or something and use spell check then copy paste it here!!

  • Bella

    Terrible! Where are the cops in CH? Watching who hangs out in front of their apartments chatting? How about the old fashion beat where cops walk around different blocks to keep an eye on things? Poor kid, I hope he is alright.

  • Rafael V. Rabinovich

    Can anyone volunteer to escort children from Yeshivah to home? If we walk in groups, lead by shmirah/shomrim escorts, chances for this happening are much smaller.
    As for all those “Every Jew a .22!” enthusiasts, let’s get more action and less talk around here.

  • belle

    Some of these comments should be edited and rewritten in a bekovidike and befitting language. This aside, even if it wasn’t a gun, a Yiddishe yingel was traumatized, and a solution must be found asap. Everyone is entitled to carry valuables without fear, and walk the streets of his home community. It is a basic human right. If this is not what is happening, the elected authorities must see to it, and if they don’t know to do it themselves, those that voted them in should make them move to get this done. Do you want a personal police escort for every person in CH? That is not the solution!!
    And what about some introspection-why davka us????
    Moshiach NOW

  • a friend

    the kid was 11 and it was a iphone ,he should not be walking around with such fancy gadgetes.

  • Hashem yishmor

    To #37:I am SO with u!!! It makes me so mad when ppl write comments with incorrect spelling and punctuation. (well that’s besides the point now…)

  • Parent & grandparent

    Excellent comments! Without scrolling up to identify each poster, may I just address a few of you?

    1. Buses for 5th graders. I believe it depends on how far from school you live. My grandson walks to OT because he lives close enough (as defined by the city, not his mother!) But he never walks on his own.

    2. Demonstrations: we must do something & I think we need to speak to askanim in Willy & BP. They manage to get things done. HOW??? Look at that poor guy in Willy on Thanksgiving: it’s all over the media, with pictures & video! They have Isaac Abraham, Willy’s answer to Al Sharpton, to speak for them. I know how to organize, but I have 2 jobs & unless I quit to become a full-time community employee I don’t have the time any more. (ISN’T THAT WHY WE HAVE A COMMUNITY COUNCIL???)

    3. What we can & must do is contact the media. Again, it is straight-forward, but it takes time & persistence. I can just see all the posters backing off, hands in the air, saying not my job! Someone needs to step up to the plate. Who? I’ll gladly help, but see #3, I just can’t take on the responsibility.

    4. Curtis Sliwa etc? We have Shomrim. True, they maybe should be more visible as a deterrent, but they are far better than the lazy cops who are too busy giving tickets on Shabbos for “improperly displayed license plates” or being a half-inch over a white line.

    5. Grammar & spell check…with respect to #37 (Going Blind), run-on sentences with no proper punctuation are just as difficult to read as posts that are badly spelled.

    6. The schools need to institute safety workshops. Parents need to take responsibility too, & make sure their children aren’t walking alone & don’t have their DS’s, ipods, iphones, or whatever visible. Adults need to be more vigilant: keep your eyes & ears OPEN! I walk with my cell in my pocket & Shomrim’s # on the screen, so one click & I’m connected. By the way, I also look around me as I’m driving. If I see anything suspicious, it’s Shomrim first (& I have done that!) I have even trailed a group of teens who were about to bother a Jewish kid near Rochester Park (an adult caught up to the boy & the teens disappeared like rats into their holes.)

  • dont judge

    to all the ones who say “why does an 11 yr old have fancy gadgets”…keep talking… don’t open your mouths- chas ve shalom it should happen to you. never judge!!

  • fromachishes

    1.i bet that if c”v anyone at any age get’s mugged it would be the same case (maybe 30 year old shouldn’t have any “fancy gadgets”)

    2.the police are now eating doughnuts……..duh!

  • Helen

    It does not matter what the kid was carrying, he should be able to walk home from school with out getting muggged, something has to be done about this, or else it is just going to keep on happening.

  • To #9

    I agree with you completely he might have just done that to scare him after all would there not be other people across the street?