A 72-year-old Jewish man was assaulted earlier this morning as he was walking on Kingston Avenue. The assailant then went on to threaten both Jewish and non-Jewish passersby that he would “kill them all.” The incident is being investigated as a possible hate crime.

Man Arrested for Assault on Elderly Jewish Man

A 72-year-old Jewish man was assaulted earlier this week as he was walking on Kingston Avenue. The assailant then went on to threaten both Jewish and non-Jewish passersby that he would “kill them all.” The incident is being investigated as a possible hate crime.

The incident occurred on Kingston Avenue near Lefferts Avenue this past Sunday afternoon. The victim, a 72-year-old Jewish man, was suddenly grabbed from behind by an African-American man and was “bear hugged.” The victim struggled to break free, and once he did, the man then slapped him across the face.

The man, who was clearly under the influence of drugs or alcohol, then turned to a number of bystanders and – while flailing his hands in the air – threatened to “kill everyone.”

Police were called, and the assailant was apprehended nearby and taken into custody.

A police source told CrownHeights.info that the man was taken to Kings County Hospital for detox, where he remained for over 24 hours. Once he was released, he was charged with Assault in the Second Degree – a felony – due to the age of the victim.

Police further opened an investigation into the incident as possibly having been motivated by bias.

Police have identified the suspect as 37-year-old Colin Esposito.

10 Comments

  • The kangeroo

    Just make sure that he gets jail time,Hate crime or not a dude attacking the eldery is dangerous.

    • Anonymous

      I dont care what color the vic is. . if tgey are elderly.. The perp should be shot

    • Not So Simple

      By your thinking one could also say it was a love crime because he hugged him. Guy was intoxicated and may have equally wanted to kill whomever he met, not any particular protected type of person – which makes it certainly a crime, but not a hate crime.

  • Why so late.

    Why is this incident reported so late? No one knew about this?
    The perp will not get jail time because of Blasiaos new relaxed rules on arrests for quality of life crimes.

  • the jungle on Kingston and lefferts

    Just passed Kingston and lefferts, shame on nypd and the Jewish landlord for allowing illegal activities to occur on our street.

  • Yitzchak Mordechai

    Yes, why did it take a week to report this, it should have been reported right away