78-Year-Old Woman Latest Victim of ‘Knockout’

The latest victim of the sick ‘knockout’ game plaguing Brooklyn was a 78-year-old woman from Midwood, who was attacked in broad daylight by a young man who walked toward her, balled up his fist and hit her with all his might on the top of her head, then ran off.

From CBS New York:

A disturbing and brutal game among teens is also targeting other victims in other cities.

Just last week, CBS 2’s John Slattery reported on a disturbing series of attack on Jews in Brooklyn. Now we’re find out New York City is not alone.

Brutal video is coming in from various places, including Pittsburgh, where a teacher was attacked, and London, where a teen was hit from behind. On Tuesday afternoon, CBS 2 learned of another victim — a 78-year-old woman attacked a week ago Saturday in Midwood.

It’s called the “knockout game.”

The victim in Pittsburgh was 50-year-old James Addeslpurger. A 15-year-old was charged with assault.

Back in September, 46-year-old Ralph Santiago of Hoboken, N.J., was killed after his head was slammed into an iron fence. The three arrested, who police said were captured on video, were just 13 and 14 years old.

And in the latest incident in Midwood, the victim’s daughter said her mother was attacked in broad daylight by a young man who walked toward her, balled up his fist and hit her with all his might on the top of her head then ran off.

The woman told CBS 2’s Dave Carlin her mother was loaded down with department store bags and a handbag, but there was no attempt to take anything; just to do harm.

“She had her purse, she had bags from department stores. There was not even an attempt to take anything from her. It was just a wanton act to hurt another human being,” the victim’s daughter said.

She said her mother did not go to the hospital and did not report it to police because she thought it was an isolated case, and she didn’t get a good look at the man’s face.

The woman was amazed that anyone could perpetrate such a violent act.

“How would you feel if this was happening to you or a member of your family?” she said, “If you don’t like it to happen to you or a member of your family, don’t do it to someone else.”

What’s happened of late in Brooklyn is just a variation on a theme. Since October, there have been four attacks in Crown Heights.

“It’s ‘knockout,’ and it happens to be a Jew in each and every case,” State Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) said.

He expressed shock at the latest incident in Midwood.

“People think it’s a fun thing to attack somebody – in this case, a person who’s 78 years old,” Hikind told 1010 WINS’ Al Jones.

In the recent attacks in Brooklyn, a 20-year old Israeli man in a hooded jacket was attacked, and another man’s 12-year-old son was hit on his way to Hebrew school.

At a community meeting between blacks and Jews in Crown Heights, an assistant police chief said there have been four such assaults since early October. So, more police have been deployed.  Many present said young African-Americans need to be educated about such bias crimes.

“We need to engage these young people and engage their parents,” said the Rev. Taharka Robinson of the Brooklyn Anti-Violence Coalition.

Assemblyman Hikind said that’s fine, but he wants more.

“I’m for people being arrested. That would be the best education in the world,” Hikind said.

Hikind urged the NYPD to catch those responsible quickly and show the “knockout game” is not a game at all.

Many are calling “knockout” another example of peer pressure and showing off, with tragic and sometimes fatal results.

20 Comments

  • message

    about this quote: “We need to engage these young people and engage their parents,” said the Rev. Taharka Robinson of the Brooklyn Anti-Violence Coalition.

    ENGAGING THEM IS ONLY PART OF THE ISSUE. PREVENTION….WHICH COMES IN THE FORM OF MORE APPROPRIATE AND EFFECTIVE SOCIAL SERVICES IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. MEANING, TEACHERS BEING OBLIGATED TO REPORT KIDS WHO ARE NOT BEING CARED FOR PROPERLY, THOSE WHO ARE ANGRY, CONFUSED, HUNGRY, AND WHATEVER.
    There is so much more to do. Its great that the ministers and laymen are trying to take part, but this has to be a much more penetrable, effective, pro-active plan. Think about it, it makes alot more sense.
    What he was saying is to take these damaged, angry, lonely, hurt and confused kids and keep them busy? That is missing alot of substance.
    everyone needs to give input to help come up with better solutions to implement.
    Also, Television has violence, and is nurturing an insensitivity to violent acts through all media.

    • Citizen Berel

      Their public schools are dead. There are a handful of kids their who are being ‘cared for properly.’ And there isn’t anything anyone can do for those who aren’t. I’m not political at all but the one political solution for any problem that ever made any sense to me is school vouchers. Google suggests that NY State public school spending per student was roughly $17,000 (in 2010). Provide vouchers for $10,000 and you would quickly have 100nds of schools competing for enrollment. Some of them would do novel things and some would be good. The Government schools are dead.

  • etc

    also, the schools where most of these kids are, should be teaching sensitivity social skills, etc. These kids are hurt and angry and need this training that a child from an intact, healthy family normally has, and can offer.

  • ENOUGH TALK!!

    Time for vigilante patrols. The police can’t or WON’T do anything so we have to protect ourselves.

    • Citizen Berel

      Would it only be that easy. Even if the Gov. would stay on the side, that would likely devolve into outright war.

      They would be well funded because lots and lots of goyim hate Yidden but the main issue really is that they have very little to lose and nothing at all better to do. We truly do have better things to do than to wage constant war through the streets of Brooklyn.

      The solution really is, hard as it may be to hear, more Torah and more Davvening and more Tehillim and more fear of heaven really, but in the worldly context, we’d probably have to fund the shomrim and self police the streets with private security. Cameras too, but in the end it would be about funding and leveraging our existing security infrastructure which means to fund and increase the shomrim.

      The wild west model is not in our interests.

  • nu?

    so schools have replaced the home. my siblings are former teacher in the public high school sector here. they are there to teach.

    not to be substitute parents
    its the society we live in
    parents are not being parents

    by jews school on the other hand enhances and encourages a torah lifestyle replete with respect for the community and the individual

    if there is no Hashem at home or a moment of silence in the schools , what can we expect from our materialistic society at large.

    teachers are not substitute parents and that what secular society is trying to do. what secular society should be doing is bringing G-d back into equation and supporting parents and children with programs to enhance their lives physically and spritually
    just a thought

    • don't be naive

      our schools have some of the same problems. maybe not as bad but our kids get a pretty crappy education for $7k a year.

  • Wordwise

    The last thing these teenagers want is the kind of attention that will bring about race riots. You do not hear of this happening in the Deep South. If it happened there it would ignite a hell storm.

  • Mendy Hecht

    I’m sorry to say this, but I’ll say what a lot of people out there–and yes, even black people, and more than a few–are saying:

    Just punch a few of these punks out. (In self-defense. See below.)

    All it will take to stop this epidemic is for the hunters to become the hunted.

    With a few kids getting a taste of their own medicine, word on the street will spread like wildfire that “the Jews [or people of whatever race or religion; it makes no difference] will punch you back”–and then, suddenly, it won’t be so fun anymore.

    Then, instead of these punks chortling, “I got one!” in school or on the streets with their friends, it’ll be, “They got me,” or, “You heard what happened to Mike?”

    Now, I am not advocating violence. Do not take this to mean to take to the streets looking for kids to punch out. Not at all what I’m saying.

    I am, however, advocating self-defense. Chances are the ideal desired scenario will never happen, but ideally, what should happen is just as a kid is clearly about to punch his victim (and on video), or if the victim can keep his wits after getting hit, the kid should then get KO’d and eat some serious sidewalk.

    A few cases of that, and problem solved. Period.

  • Lifelight

    Well said Mendy Hecht. That is exactly what happenend in Manchester when my son was in Yeshiva there, many years ago. The boys, and others were being harassed in the streets, until my son and one or two others took matters into their own hands and at the next attack they yelled Chapzem and retaliated. They were not bothered again. AND the word got around: Don’t mess.

  • chani

    what does watching violence on tv have to do with punching people in the head, there are plenty of kids that watch t.v. and they dont go around knocking out kids and adults

  • Preventive medicine

    Let’s have a farbrengen, drink alot so it would smell like we are drunk, then roam the streets of CH, carrying bats, knives, axes, etc., and screaming like madmen. Just don’t threaten anyone with these. What would be the penalty for that, if any? Just say it’s some kind of ritual, not unlike shechita.

    Then, maybe the word will get around that the Jews are dangerous, and, hopefully, they won’t be so fast to mess with us.

    • Catch-n-teach

      Yeah, and get arrested for drunken disorderly misconduct-not a good idea. Got to play it smart!

  • Catch-n-teach

    Jews or non- Jews, they are looking for easy victims that’s the bottom line.. It is a crime not only against Jews, it is a crime against humanity. If police is ineffective, then private citizens should come out and play catch-n-teach game. They should eat serious sidewalk then they’re not going to feel safe anymore doing it and they will stop.

  • Catch 22

    To 16:

    But taking the law into your own hands can also get you arrested. So, if you are willing to risk your freedom (like Meir Kahane, HY”D) for the good of our people, which will carry a stiffer penalty, drunken disorderly misconduct, or giving someone a good bashing/thrashing?

    In either case, just don’t stick around so long for the police to arrive. I still think that the first thing to try is to act crazy without hurting anyone.

  • Fed Up

    Oh, wow the guy, who hit this woman is a big “man”, not! What a sissy , he found an old lady to pick on. I guess he couldn’t find a woman his own age to pick on! Hope the coward that smacked this woman reads this post and sees that he is nothing more than a little sissy! Let him show his worthless pathetic face to the public, oh wait cowards don’t do that!