CROWN HEIGHTS — A 14-year-old boy was arrested and charged with a hate crime for snatching the yarmulke and black hat off the head of a 13-year-old Jewish boy earlier this week, police and sources said.
Police said the younger boy was walking along the southeast corner of Eastern Parkway and New York Avenue around 6:25 p.m. on May 23 when the 14-year-old ran up to him and grabbed both hats off the top of his head.
Officers caught up with the 14-year-old soon afterwards and recovered both items. The teen was arrested and has been charged as a juvenile with grand larceny as a hate crime and criminal possession of stolen property.
Sources said the 14-year-old carried out the theft on a dare.
Other notable crimes in this week’s blotter from the 71st Precinct in Crown Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens and East Flatbush include:
The map above depicts only those blotter items compiled by DNAinfo New York within the date range indicated, not all crimes that took place in a given precinct. To see all previous crime blotters from this precinct, click here.
► A 53-year-old man was arrested for punching a 72-year-old man in the face at Kingsbrook Jewish Hospital. Police said the man assaulted the senior around 3:30 p.m. on May 19 because he thought he “had an attitude” when he asked the 72-year-old where to find an ATM, according to a police report.
► Two South Carolina residents were arrested after officers found a loaded gun and two scales used for narcotics distribution in their car during a traffic stop. Officers said the pair, a man and a woman ages 35 and 33, respectively, were driving west on Eastern Parkway in a Toyota minivan around 9:15 p.m. on May 19 when police pulled them over for a seat belt infraction and having an obstructed windshield. During the stop, police found a loaded .380 Taurus pistol in the car’s glove box and the two scales.
► A 28-year-old man was arrested for breaking the glass windows of a funeral home. The owner of the business at 169 Empire Blvd. said the man came up to the building around 11:30 a.m. on May 20 and struck the front windows with his hand multiple times, breaking the glass and causing about $250 in damage.
► A 19-year-old man was shot in the leg by another man after the two got into a dispute around 10 p.m. on May 20 outside 455 Schenectady Ave. between Lefferts and East New York avenues. Police said the suspect fired once and struck the victim in the left leg. The teen was treated at a local hospital. The suspect has not yet been identified.
► More than $11,000 in equipment was stolen out of a Parks Department building at Hamilton Metz Field on Albany and Lefferts avenues, police said. Workers there reported that unknown suspects broke the lock on the maintenance shed and stole a weed-wacker, broom, several garbage “grabbers,” a garbage can with wheels and a one-gallon gas can between the hours of 5:30 p.m. on May 21 and 7 a.m. on May 22.
