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Man Charged With Strangulation, Assault as Hate Crimes in Sidewalk Ambush of Brooklyn Jewish Man Walking Home From Synagogue

Surveillance videos helped identify the suspect, and the investigation showed he used a card with his name to buy ice cream at a nearby store

What to Know

  • Menachem Moskowitz suffered a black eye and broken rib after he was beaten by a man on an East 46th Street sidewalk in Crown Heights
  • The victim was walking home from a synagogue at the time of the brazen April 21 attack
  • Surveillance videos helped identify the suspect, and the investigation showed he used a card with his name to buy ice cream nearby

A 40-year-old man has been indicted on charges of strangulation and assault as hate crimes for an unprovoked attack on a Jewish man, whom he allegedly cursed and choked as the victim walked home from synagogue last month. 

James Vincent was arraigned Wednesday on a 17-count indictment in connection with the brazen early afternoon attack on 52-year-old Menachem Moskowitz April 21. 

Moskowitz was walking home from temple after Sabbath prayers that Saturday around 1 p.m. when prosecutors say he passed Vincent near Rutland Road and East 46th Street in East Flatbush. As Moskowitz passed, Vincent alleged yelled, "You f---ing Jew, you Jews took my house and mortgage." 

Moskowitz kept walking. Vincent then allegedly rushed the older man from behind and squeezed Moskowitz's neck, then punched him in the head and body and squeezed his arms around the man's head. Two bystanders intervened as Vincent allegedly continued to yell anti-Semitic epithets. Then he ran off. 

Moskowitz suffered a black eye and broken rib in the sidewalk ambush. 

Prosecutors say surveillance video helped identify the suspect, who they also learned use a credit card bearing his name to buy ice cream at a store near the scene of the attack. He is being held on bond pending a court appearance in August. It wasn't clear if Vincent had an attorney who could comment. 

"This alleged attack against a religious person is disturbing and completely unacceptable," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. "Brooklyn’s strength is in its diversity and I will never tolerate such hate-motivated crimes in our communities. The defendant in this case has now been indicted and I intend to hold him accountable."

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