A violent hit-and-run in Brooklyn is being investigated as a possible hate crime, after police said video showed a driver run down a Jewish man in a crosswalk and then take off.
Shocking surveillance footage showed the moment a car slammed into the 55-year-old man, who is Hasidic, as he was crossing at Albany Avenue and Union Street in Crown Heights just after 5 p.m. Friday, police said.
In the video, the car is seen turning at the intersection, then accelerating right into the victim. The man fell to the ground and broke his leg, but is recovering.
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
Residents in the area are concerned that one of their brothers in the Jewish community was struck in such a way.
"You can see from the video, didn’t seem like an accident to me. Got to be safe," said Usher Berkovich, who lives nearby. "As a Jew, I feel like I have to be more careful and crime has been up especially on the Jewish community."
The driver immediately took off from the scene, and police are trying to determine if the driver smashed into him on purpose. If they determine that to be the case, the driver could face hate crime charges.
"If it was not intentional I would be very surprised because he literally swerves into him at the end
An investigation is ongoing.
