Posted to Crime, Crown Heights News on

Jewish Home Robbed at Gunpoint

This afternoon, at around 12:30pm, a Jewish-owned home on President Street between Schenectady and Utica Avenues was robbed at gunpoint by three African-American men who knocked at the door.

At home at the time were a number of construction workers doing renovations on the property. Since they were expecting a plumber, they opened the door without asking who was there.

The three men pointed a gun at the workers and robbed them of all their valuables, including wallets and cell phones.

Gadi Hershkop, coordinator of the Crown Heights Shomrim, said that this incident is a stark reminder of why it is so important to never open the front door of your home unless you know who is there.

This incident follows a drive-by shooting that occurred last night on the corner of Albany and East New York Aves., right outside Lefferts Park. A young African-American male was struck by the bullets and taken by ambulance to Kings County Hospital. His condition is unknown to us at this time.

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54 Comments

  • Los Angeles

    Come 2 Los Angeles La Brea area or Pico much safer than CH. If u want Gr8 weather with a safer area COME 2 Los Angeles the City of Angels. Even after Melrose area around yeshiva nice area. Come check out L.A.

  • non-gender

    #1, you forgot about Los Angeles traffic, the second largest parking lot in the world behind the belt parkway.
    and, the Shomrim are right about not answering e door until you accertain who is out there

  • 2 comment Baltimore

    R u saying the Rebbe said that crown heights bklyn is the safest place & if I want 2 move 2 move 2 L.A. I can’t because I have 2 live in crown heights ? Give me a break dude I’ll live where I Wana live b it L.A. Seattle, San Francisco, salt lake city, Webster city, Iowa, chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, st paul, MN, Miami, Melbourne, Sydney, London, Manchester, tel Aviv, yerushalayim, Williamsburg where ever I Wana live I’ll live & the Rebbe doesnt have an issue with that. Live where u want.

    • Ch

      Unfortunately you are taking like a chosid who is a fool unless you are not a chosid .. The rebbe did not tell all to live in NY or people to start moving .. Though to say you will do as you please does not sound like you would listen to the Rebbe if the Rebbe would tell you or ask you to do something

  • Number 1

    What dose “Los Angeles” & “Los Angeles weather” got to do with “Crown Height Shooting”? I don’t get it. Please explain.

  • Uncle Mendel

    Again, More Racial Profiling!!!
    Did anyone Ask these African Americans WHY they robbed at gunpoint? Maybe they needed the money to feed their starving children, or wanted to give to charity?????

    • racist

      Saying “African American” instead of Black doesn make it ok. These criminals were black but that doesn’t make black people criminals.

    • yeah right

      sure sure sure. no way charity, and IF they have children, they should just get a normal job and live normally. I AM NOT RACIST!!! i am against this type of people no matter if they r black white wtvr.

  • no#

    can’t the community council get a grant or some subsidy to get surveillance cameras for all of us???

  • TO #3

    Did the Rebbe say that Crown Heights is safer? When did he say that ? After Yankel Rosenbaum was murdered? After Mrs. LaPine was murdered?

    • Ezra

      The Rebbe said the following in 1969, at the peak of the “white flight” from Crown Heights, when conditions here were pretty bad (Likkutei Sichos vol. 6 p. 355, in translation):

      “We know of numerous cases (besides many others that are, for various reasons, hushed up and not talked about) of people who left their neighborhood – where _not a single_ untoward thing had happened to them, just that they frightened themselves (and others) into running away to other places. And specifically in their new places of residence, non-Jews came and robbed them, rachamana litzlan…

      “Being established in these neighborhoods carries with it great reward. Through effort in strengthening and expanding the neighborhoods, a greater and more expansive blessing from Hashem will rest on them more than in other places.”

      Repeatedly, over the following years, the Rebbe pointed out that his views in this regard have not changed.

      And there were enough incidents long before Yankel Rosenbaum and Mrs. Lapine hy”d: Avrohom Eliezer Goldman hy”d in 1977, R. Dovid Okunov hy”d in 1980…

  • 2 comment # 6 & #7

    Besides the weather if u read my comment throughly I mentioned about a “Safer Area” I wasn’t just focusing on the weather. Read the comment again. Yes plenty of shootings if u wana live in South L.A. down town or Crenshaw district. I’m talking Formosa, Alta Vista, Pointsettia, vista. & not exposition park by the imax theather. Or sunset Going east towards Vermont & Hollywood Blvd area.

  • Yitzchok

    This needs to be taken seriously. It has to be nipped in the bud.
    All resources needs to be used to catch these criminals before it gets worse.

  • 2 comment # 3

    Yeah Mr. Baltimore leave Baltimore & move 2 Bklyn. Ur a big talker. Then when u live in crown heights 4 a year we will c how long u last in Crown Heights Bklyn. Otherwise stay in Baltimore & don’t speak in the name of the Rebbe (who lived in Bklyn) & say how crown heights is the safest place, dude u don’t even live here.

    • Citizen Berel

      Mr. Baltimore is a troll. A litivisher who comments on CH new sites. He was making fun of chasidim. No need to thank me.

  • Thank you Mayor

    Thank you Mr. Bill for putting a stop to the NYPD’s agressive stop and frisk policy. Sure, now there’s more gun violence, but well worth it that there should be no perception of racial profiling, right Mr. Bill?

  • To #1

    Sorry to burst your bubble. You are not any safer than us. I had a family member held up at gunpoint in Los Angeles.

  • The Holy Land

    the Rebbe said in nun aleph 1991 that the safest place in the world is … Eretz HaKodesh !! Not Brooklyn, Miami, Los Angeles, Toronto, Montreal, Melbourne, London, Sydney or Auckland, New Zealand. The safest place in the world is the holy land our holy land the land that G-D almighty is watching from the beginning of the year 2 the end of the year that is the only place & that is where we need 2 b with the rebbe taking us out of this dark bitter horrible galut with so many issues & take us 2 Yerushalayim. That us the city that counts the most. Har Habayis. May we all b there now

  • to 1

    don’t be such a big shots LA and there’s plenty of robbers out there as well

  • meir rhodes

    a day light robber involving 3 armed men is very serious indeed! Bat Ayin is tame by comparison! consider a hilltop community. great weather, lovely climate, and warm friendly neighbors!
    allah hu Akbar!

  • Remember the Great Eathquakes

    IN LA !!!

    We like are 4 season life….

    We live here because the Rebbe wanted this place to grow. U can move anywhere… but the Rebbe Settled here and we are close to the Ohel.

    I love CH

    My house also went to over 1.5 million !!!!

    Also jobs and work IN Ny cant be beat

    And we have Reserve CUT!!!!! and Mermelsteins!!!

  • why are you talking abut moving!

    Other then #10 #11 #15 #17 and #18 all of the comments were talking about where to move. when your supposed-to feel bad, or if your “higher then that” at least think about what happened.

  • Formosa Avenue & Detroit Street

    Los Angeles is safe? There were murders on 300 N. blocks of Formosa and Detroit. But that’s not the point.

    Wherever you are you are as safe as HKB”H wants you to be… Is running from city to city, address to address, really going to help? Everyone, no matter his or her address, needs to be conscious of personal safety and the safety of others.

  • crown heitzer

    do i have to fry out first before i come to LA or can i wait till i get there?

  • camera

    Camera system would have helped at this particular incident.
    One of the purposes of installing a security camera system at home is to screen the incoming visitors.
    And be sure enough if you see a black man with a hood and two more right behind him then think again about to whom you about to open the door.

    • Wow

      You are a very smart human being. Obviously they did not see the other men behind him or they would not have opened the door. Which for your information were not to be seen and were hiding on the sidewalk. As for the cameras they were being installed.

  • to "los Angeles" and "dear robbed"

    I don’t understand you. this guys workers were ribbed and ask you have to say is HERE, I’M GOING TO RUB MORE SALT INTO YOUR WOUNDS, “move to LA” red carpets rolled out” are you a narcissist?

  • Israel

    The Rebbe said Israel is safe. And despite all the media hype, it is. We lived in Crown Heights for 30 years, always looking over our shoulders. Today, if we want to take a midnight stroll, there’s no problem. We will likely encounter other people walking, or joggers, or kids coming home from a chug, or people leaving a simcha. Bonus – the weather is gorgeous!

    To get back to the issue, though, keep your doors locked & use the peephole or intercom. Even then, put the chain on to be sure. Have a safe & peaceful Shabbos.

  • Locked and Loaded Lubavitcher

    Let me clear the field for EVERYONE on this issue: Contrary to popular (stupidity and ignorance induced) belief, all of the surveillance cameras on earth will not be able to PREVENT the criminal element from going ahead and shooting someone dead CV”S if they so wished. There is no space age energy beam that emanates from a security camera that will incapacitate a murderer who is intent on killing someone. The only thing that the cameras are good for is to provide the opportunity to watch some of the most horrific atrocity’s done by man in Hi DEF!!!! Better spend the money on tactical proficiency courses for the community so that we can learn to PROACTIVELY protect ourselves and cease being the victims!!!

    Want to nip the issue in the bud? I guarantee you that after 2 or 3 incidents whereby the sicko’s are met at the door with a “welcoming committee” of a dozen 2 3/4 inch magnum, “00” buckshot shells, the vibe in the neighborhood when it comes to home invasions will change very quickly!!!

    Want to do everything you can to ensure the safety of yourself and your family? Purchase the best Mezuzos you can afford, give as much Tzedakah as you can, AND MOVE TO A “SHALL ISSUE” state where they respect the second amendment and ensure that you can own AND CARRY a weapon for protection!!! Then purchase a weapon which you can operate well, learn how to use it AND STOP BEING THE VICTIM!!!!!!!!!!

    Moschiach NOW!!!

  • jewish dude

    Go to the NYPD and get a pistol permit for a handgun.
    We as Jews have a right to be safe in our own home.
    This is pure terror for this family, i hope they do well.

    • CHLEAKS.com

      “We as Jews have a right to be safe in our own home.”

      EVERYONE has this right!!!

  • Just Me!

    grass is not greener in another hood.

    those that post so are in denial or just want to justify their move to wherever you are.

    If it worked for you great – but crime and whatever the issues exist in every area from Miami to LA .

    There is tremendous advantages in living in CH – this was about a crime in our hood and sounds like a random one by a few lowlifes – what else is new!
    Yes, we have crime – obviously!

    Yes, if you can stomach a pistol in your home you absolutely sud apply for a permit – nothing wrong,

  • Owner

    To all those who have nothing else better to do then to sit and give me ideas on where to move and why, saying no one should open the door etc. Thank you! You should win the Nobel peace prize. You should also probably get a day job. If you have a day job, please try and get another one. You have way too much time on your hands.
    To those who say to get cameras etc. Thank you as well! I never even thought about that! (If you believe that one I’ll give you another one)
    We are currantly in middle of installing them hence the word “renovation”
    And to those of you that showed sincere concern. I really truly appreciate it and thank you for caring about mine and my family’s safety. This was very scary for us and we now know to be extra cautious.
    Please do the same. And make sure to never ever open the door until you know who it.

  • to #39

    You’re right and that’s why there is no crime in ghettos where everyone has guns? Um, guess again.

    • Ezra

      No, not “everyone” in those places has a gun – just the criminal elements. That’s the problem.

  • To # 39

    “GUN IS GOOD” but a GUM with a “CAMERA IS BETTER.
    It is likely if you at home so the gun is in the safe and you are now oping the door just as described in this post. Hay look at screen and now you do not open the door and you do not need to shoot any one, or if they so insisted to break in, by screening the visitors via camera you have the uper hand call 911 and go ahead grab your gun.

  • to #11

    No….. they are NOT criminals! Even they they shoot someone…. they r innocent!
    Maybe u wanna give them some food ?
    Nebach…. poor hungry souls

  • Chaim Klein

    first and foremost a person needs to live in a community which offers Chinuch for his children, a pleasant Chabad minyan, friends for his wife and where he can earn a decent livelihood to support his family.
    All the other advantages are a plus i.e family and weather