DISTURBING

NYPD Investigating Brooklyn Attack on Jewish Man as a Hate Crime

A 63-year-old had two teeth knocked out Tuesday morning when a man attacked him with a rock at a Brooklyn park.

The New York Police Department's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating an attack on a Jewish man Tuesday morning that left him with a broken nose and knocked-out teeth, according to WABC and ABC News. The 63-year-old was working out in a Brooklyn park Tuesday morning when a man allegedly punched him. A New York Police Department spokesperson said the two men started to fight, and the suspected attacker, described as a black man with dreadlocks, allegedly grabbed a large rock and struck the man in the mouth and forehead. Police said the 63-year-old ended up with two knocked-out teeth and a gash on his forehead, but is in otherwise stable condition. The alleged victim's son-in-law, who described his relative as an “easily identifiable” Hasidic Jew, also told ABC News his nose was broken in two places and his leg was injured. “My father-in-law says that the guy yelled at him something like ‘dirty Jew,’” the son-in-law, Benny Friedman, told ABC News. 

The alleged attacker reportedly fled the scene, and police have yet to arrest him. The 63-year-old was released from the hospital on Tuesday afternoon, and the New York chapter of the Anti-Defamation League is offering a $5,000 reward that leads to the arrest of those responsible.