A horrifying video shows a masked man attempting to rip a six-year-old Hasidic Jewish boy out of the arms of his father in broad daylight as they walked down a Brooklyn sidewalk together Saturday, Nov. 9.
The boy’s father was holding hands and walking down the sidewalk with his two sons at around 3:30 pm in Crown Heights when the masked assailant, who is seen wearing a blue and white letterman jacket, approaches the family and snatches the boy.
The would-be kidnapper lifted the child into the air when his father swiftly dragged him back out of the criminal’s arms.
The Orthodox Jewish man then punches the masked man in the stomach.
The attacker fled on foot, and no injuries were reported police sources confirm.
The investigation is ongoing. The suspect has been arrested.
A representative for Shomrim, a volunteer neighborhood patrol serving NYC’s Jewish community, said that no words were exchanged between the attacker and his victims before or during the assault.
It is unclear why the man targeted the child.
“This video is shocking,” wrote Chabad PR rep Yaacov Behrman in a post on X.
“Something is clearly going on in Crown Heights—there have been incident after incident over the past two weeks,” he added.
Crown Heights, a major population center for New York’s ultra-orthodox community, is no stranger to unprovoked violent attacks.
Watch the video below.