Midwood Woman, 78, Victim Of “Knockout” Attack – Local Pols Offering Reward
A 78-year-old Midwood woman is the latest person to come out as a potential victim of a vicious “knockout” game, in which teenagers randomly slug an unsuspecting passerby in the head in an attempt to knock them unconscious.
ABC News reports:
The latest attack, on an elderly woman in Midwood, comes after eight similar attacks on Jewish people in Crown Heights.
Now, that 78-year-old woman is terrified, her daughter told Eyewitness News.
“She was carrying a purse that was in full view and many bags, nothing was taken,” the victim’s daughter, Rita, said. “This was purely a wanton incident, someone wanted to inflict pain onto someone else, no other purpose.”
The incident happened on Saturday, November 9, as the woman walked down her street, but she was too afraid to immediately report the attack.
The incident occurred on Avenue L and East 5th Street.
While the “game” has surfaced as a possible national trend, it’s taken an ugly racial aspect in Brooklyn. This victim’s case comes on the heels of eight similar attacks in Crown Heights. None of the victims were robbed as part of the attack.
The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating, as all the victims are Orthodox Jewish.
On the same day the incident became public, Public Advocate-elect Letitia James, Councilman David Greenfield, and Councilman-elect Chaim Deutsch came forward offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved in the eight previous attacks.
According to Yeshiva World News, the “knockout game” assaults have occurred alongside a rash of bias crimes in the area, including assaults, rock throwing and bias graffiti – all targeting Jewish people.
In one incident on November 10, a group of black males attacked a Jewish pedestrian at the corner of Kingston Avenue and Crown Street. That followed a November 6 attack of a 12-year-old Jewish boy, who was punched and thrown to the sidewalk by a group of 15 black youths, according to media reports.
The $1,000 reward is for information that leads authorities to suspects in any of these cases.
“The reports of unprovoked attacks on our city’s streets are disturbing, especially since it appears the victims are being targeted simply because they are Jewish. We have come too far to tolerate senseless violent attacks against anyone, let alone on the basis of their religion,” said Greenfield.
“The recent ‘knockout’ attacks in the Crown Heights community are an outrage of epic proportions. Everyone, in every community, must stand up to these heinous crimes and denounce them in the strongest way,” said Deutsch.
If you have any information about these incidents, please contact (800) 577-TIPS (8477) or visit NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM.