CBS Local
November 23, 2013
Police have arrested four men in connection with an assault in Brooklyn.
The suspects allegedly hit the victim without warning, similar to recent incidents related to the so-called “knockout game” in which mobs of young people randomly sucker-punch innocent people for fun.
Around 2:45 a.m. Friday, investigators said a 24-year-old Jewish man was surrounded by four men and punched in the face on 18th Avenue in Borough Park. NYPD officers were nearby in an unmarked police car, commissioner Ray Kelly said Friday afternoon.
The victim told investigators he heard one of the attackers say, “I’ll do it to this guy,” right before he was surrounded and punched, sources told CBS 2.
The suspects fled, but were quickly apprehended and taken into police custody, sources said. The victim identified the suspects, police said.
“I commend the excellent police work that we saw this morning,”Assemblyman Dov Hikind said in a statement. “I am grateful that these four thugs are off the streets and am hopeful that they will be treated with the severity of the law. I urge continuing diligence in dealing with this issue.”
Hate crime detectives are interviewing the four suspects — three Hispanic men and one Indian male — and the victim at the 66thPrecinct, sources said.
The four men face assault charges, but those may be upgraded, CBS 2′s Don Champion reported.
The suspects range in age from 28 to 38, police said.
There have been seven so-called “knockout” or “polar bear” assaults in the Crown Heights and Midwood sections of Brooklyn since October, police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Wednesday. The alternate name “polar bearing” comes from the fact that the victims are white.
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