Man charged with attempted murder, hate crimes after driving car onto sidewalk outside yeshiva
Police accuse the man of attempting to run over a group of people
EAST FLATBUSH, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Police have arrested and charged a man with a slew of hate crimes, including attempted murder, after allegedly trying to hit a group of people with a car outside a yeshiva in Brooklyn on Wednesday.
Authorities say the suspect, 58-year-old Asghar Ali, jumped the curb on Glenwood Road and drove his white Ford Crown Victoria on the sidewalk around 11:35 a.m.
Video shows the car driving up onto the sidewalk and chasing a group of young men, several of which fled into the Mesivta Yakov School for safety.
Moments before, on the opposite side of the building, the wheels of the vehicle were smoking when the driver slammed the brakes after spotting a different group of Jewish teens.
Eyewitness News spoke with two of the young men off camera who were outside when that man tried to run them over.
They say he was driving down Glenwood Road, and that when he spotted them, he made a U-turn and drove up onto the sidewalk.
They say that the driver yelled at them, saying "I'm going to kill all the Jews."
Simon Gifter, a freelance journalist, says he heard the suspect ranting to cops from behind precinct walls.
"I was outside and I heard him screaming non-stop like a maniac," Gifter said.
Ali was slapped with a dozen charges, including attempted murder as a hate crime, menacing as a hate crime, and first-degree attempted vehicular assault.
The NYPD's most recent statistics show hate crimes against ethnic groups have either remained the same of decreased, except for Jewish and Muslim New Yorkers, who have each seen a 100% increase.
Community leaders say yeshiva doors these days have been kept locked at all times.
"There is a real fear in the community that this is just one incident and that something more tragic will happen. Much more tragic," said community leader Leon Goldenberg.
"It makes us feel frightened. But on the flip side we know that the police are out there and the mayor takes these things seriously," said Mendy Mirocznik of Mayor Eric Adams' Jewish Advisory Council.
No one was physically injured in this incident, but a community already on edge, is now shaken.
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