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Police Investigating Hate Crime In Brooklyn

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Jan 20, 2008 11:08 pm US/Eastern

Police Investigating Hate Crime In Brooklyn

BROOKLYN (CBS) ―

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A Jewish teenager was assaulted in Crown Heights, Brooklyn in what police are investigating as a bias crime. Several Hasidic residents that CBS 2 HD spoke to say Jewish teenagers are the targets of attacks by a group of black teenagers.

"I fell over here," pointed Samuel Balkany. "They were punching me and beating me up. They were saying racial slurs to me. Do you think you own this neighborhood? You F****** Jew. You little Jew boy!"

Balkany, 16, was beaten up Friday night outside his friend's house on Carroll St. in Crown Heights. He says five black teenagers pummeled him for no reason, and may have used a rock to smash his head. He now has a staple closing a deep wound there. Balkany recalls how his attackers acted when they left after punching and kicking him for several minutes.

"They were giggling away laughing about the incident, walking like nothing ever happened," said Balkany.

Police are investigating the beating as a possible bias attack. Community residents say this is not an isolated incident. They claim a half hour before the attack on Balkany, 15 black teenagers assaulted three Jewish teens on Brooklyn Avenue a few blocks away.

There is a pattern of racist attacks on Jewish Hasidic teenagers in crown heights on Fridays says a Rabbi visiting relatives on Carroll street.

Rabbi Ari Goodman, Chabad of Brunswick told CBS 2 HD the attacks happen on Fridays, when Jewish people cannot carry money or cell phones, leading him to believe the attacks are strictly racially motivated.

But these attacks - several last summer and in the last two weeks, are not black community versus Jewish community, says the head of a Hasidic street patrol.

"Maybe it's a gang initiation, or maybe it's to prove amongst their friends that this is what they need to do to show their toughness," said Yossi Stern, or the Shimra Patrol.

The police have sent the hate crime task force to Brooklyn Avenue. They believe the attack on Samuel Balkany is an isolated incident and expect to arrest his attackers.

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