The following is a WCBSTV exclusive report:
A local teacher has been hospitalized after a brutal beating, and his three attackers may have targeted him simply because of his religion.
Joel Weinberger, a 26-year-old father of four, has swollen eyes, a broken leg and his jaw has been wired shut. His difficulty talking about what happened to him was both physical and emotional.
Family spokesman Isaac Abraham filled in the details, saying the attack happened on Thanksgiving at about 7:30 p.m.
Weinberger left his workplace, a Yeshiva on Harrison Avenue, and rounded the corner onto a desolate street one block from his home. There, he was confronted by three men.
“They were offered his wallet, and they were not even interested,” Abraham said. “They were there for one reason only – it’s to hurt him because of his religion.
“All his religious articles – his hat, his jacket, his fringes – were ripped apart. He was basically undressed on the scene,” Abraham said.
The nearest security camera to the attack, belonging to a car rental business, was too far and at an angle which prevented it from catching the crime on tape. However, the video may provide a glimpse of the three suspects before or after the attack.
The suspects took Weinberger’s cell phone, and CBS 2 has learned that detectives are checking cell phone records. In the meantime, they will wait for Weinberger to be alert enough to give them a detailed statement.
“He is a very good person,” Weinberger’s coworker, Joel Weiss, said.
“Life is not safe,” one woman said. “We thought it’s a safe place, but we have to put more eyes, more lighting.”
“It’ll happen again if they are not taken off the streets quick,” Abraham said.
The search for suspects is complicated because Weinberger did not get a good look at his three attackers, telling friends and family it was too dark and he was jumped from behind.
For now, the case is being classified by policy as an assault and a robbery. That could change to a bias attack, after investigators get a chance to speak at length with Weinberger.
(Source: WCBSTV)
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4 Responses
The cops are too busy giving out summonses for chatting on the sidewalk or crossing the street to catch these thugs. Refuah shleima to the poor victim…if Shomrim gets them, they’ll be fish food.
Is it nice to bash the police everytime something happens. They are human just like you. Did a yid ever do something he should’t have, and therefore you would bash all yidden. Do you want a policeman on every corner? He will enforce the law with everything he sees, from this person going through the red light right after it changed, to giving everybody a ticket for seatbelts or cellphones. You don’t want a police officer just to stand all over and look at you.
Chaimy, I think it is proper to offer advice and point out the mistakes of the NYPD. We appreciate their work and their service but much more can be done. Coming from South Florida, the police act differently than NYPD and it is not the “ikkur” to just hand out tickets, like those cops located in the 5 boroughs.
Rabosei, what about providing this poor victim’s Hebrew name (and that of his mother)? A religious news service should ALWAYS include this information as well!
Thank you.