A man who said police went onto a sidewalk and tried to hit pedestrians outside an Orthodox Jewish school in New York was arrested Wednesday on charges of attempted murder, reckless driving and hate crimes .
The suspect, Asghar Ali, 58, of Brooklyn, New York, shouted anti-Semitic statements before swerving on a Brooklyn sidewalk in a white 2011 Ford Crown Victoria, according to an NYPD spokesperson. The address given by police matches that of Mesivta Nachlas Yakov School, an Orthodox Jewish school.
No injuries were reported after the episode, which occurred around 11:25 a.m. Wednesday morning. Police said a 41-year-old man, a 44-year-old man and three 18-year-old men were on the sidewalk and were targeted.
Security camera footage from a neighborhood watch group led by Jewish residents of Flatbush showed a white car driving on a sidewalk directly toward men wearing yarmulkes as they fled. When the men ran inside, the driver got back on the road and drove away, the video shows.
Mr. Ali faces more than a dozen charges, including murder as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, attempted vehicular assault, uttering threats as a hate crime and dangerous driving, police said.
Police had not released any further details about Mr. Ali as of Wednesday evening.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams told local radio station WINS that the driver appeared to have been “emotionally disturbed.”
Governor. Kathy Hochul of New York said on social media that New York State Police were coordinating the investigation with the New York Police Department.