Brooklyn, NY – An unidentified man is under arrest and the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force has been called in after a Chasidic man was viciously beaten this morning in broad daylight in what appears to be an unprovoked attack on 13th Avenue.

Sources who spoke to VIN News on condition of anonymity said that Lipa Schwartz was walking to the synagogue just after 7:15 this morning when the sounds of a car screeching down the avenue between 45th and 46th streets had him stopping in his tracks.

Surveillance video shows the car service driver running out of a black four door sedan directly at Schwartz, hitting him in the head multiple times.

Attempting to flee his attacker, Schwartz ran into 46th Street intersection where the car service driver continued to beat him, punching him in the head numerous times, throwing him onto the pavement and striking him repeatedly.

A second Chasidic man who attempted to intervene was chased through the street by the car service driver before he was tackled by passersby and held by Shomrim until police arrived at the scene.

Schwartz was treated and released by Maimonides Medical Center for his injuries. He was unavailable for comment this morning but told one visitor “if he had a knife I would be dead by now.”

The attacker was arrested by the NYPD and is an employee of Church Avenue Car Service.

A manager at Church Avenue Car Service said that the company was cooperating with the NYPD and that no further information was available at this time.

The incident has sent shock waves of fear rippling through Borough Park.

Community Board 12 chairman Yidel Perlstein said that the NYPD is taking the incident very seriously, sending several high level officials to the hospital and canvassing the area for additional surveillance footage in order to aid in their investigation.

“We haven’t seen anything like this in a very long time,” said Perlstein. “Everybody in the community is traumatized. We don’t want anyone to ever go through anything like this and want to make sure that this is an isolated incident.”



Local elected officials expressed their outrage on the matter.

“It is unbelievable that someone walking in the early morning should have to worry about almost being beaten to death,” Senator Simcha Felder told VIN News. “I am asking the police department and calling on District Attorney Eric Gonzalez to investigate this matter very seriously.”

Assemblyman Dov Hikind described the attack as inexcusable. Hikind said that he has been in close contact with Deputy Inspector David Wall, commanding officer of the 66th Precinct regarding the brutal beating.

“To see this animal physically attacking someone is just horrible,” said Hikind told VIN News. “Thank G-d this guy is off the streets after this malicious and vicious attack. This isn’t the wild west; this is Borough Park. We can’t have things like this taking place on our streets.”