Man Caught With Fake Gun After Threatening Jews With it

Boro Park – A man who threatened Jewish people with a drawn gun in Boro Park was arrested Thursday morning and found to be in possession of a fake weapon.

The capture of the suspect, an Hispanic man in his 40s, was a result of a coordination between the Boro Park and Crown Heights branches of Shomrim.

It began on New Utrecht Ave. and 58th Street on Thursday morning, when a Jewish man called Shomrim and alleged that a suspect riding an unwieldy pedal bike had brandished a gun and threatened him.

Shomrim contacted police, but by the time they responded to the scene the suspect had already fled the area, peddling away on his oversized red and gray bike. He was followed through Prospect Park and, when his destination appeared to be Crown Heights, the Shomrim branch in that neighborhood was notified.

Along the way, on the intersection of Flatbush Ave. and Lincoln Boulevard, he waved the gun threateningly at a second Jewish man.

As the suspect swung onto Montgomery Ave., police from the Crown Heights’ 71st precinct stopped and arrested him. They searched him and found a fake handgun.

The suspect was charged with brandishing a gun. There are no hate crime charges pending.