NYPD Arrests Perpetrator who Assaulted Jewish Man in Parking Dispute

     by Yehudit Garmaise

     The shirtless man, 26-year-old Adam Franco, who, two days ago, viciously assaulted a 54-year-old Jewish man whose van, the perpetrator angrily claimed, blocked his driveway, was arrested and charged with the misdemeanor of assault this morning, thanks to the teamwork of the 66th Precinct of the NYPD and Boro Park Shomrim, police officers told BoroPark24.

     Although a still photo taken from a video of incident reveals that it is debatable whether the van was blocking the driveway at all, a woman who lives near the driveway, which some described as a "curb cut," at 39th Street and 12th Avenue, told the Jewish man, who works as a plumber, to move his van.

     The victim responded that he would do so as soon as she needed the driveway, the man told Hamodia.

     Then, in an ugly scene that was captured on video, the woman’s husband, who Hamodia reported his many neighbors describing as “scary,” “wild, and “terrifying,” came out of his building: screaming, cursing, and demanding that the Jewish man move his van immediately, all the while accusing the victim of “disrespect[ing] my woman."

     Without warning, the perpetrator raised his hand to slap the driver on the face, knocking him down to the street, before throwing a hose at the driver’s van.

     The victim, who briefly lost consciousness, after he was struck to the ground for several seconds, has a bruise under his eye and a cut on his mouth, was treated and released by emergency medical services, and the assailant, his wife, and baby quickly fled the scene.

     After reading about the attack on Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted, “This kind of vicious act of violence won’t be tolerated in our city.

     “The NYPD is investigating, and make no mistake, the perpetrator WILL be brought to justice.”

     The assailant, who has been charged, is not expected to be charged with a hate crime, as anti-Semitism is not believed to be a motivation.

     What does appear to be the motivation for the assault is an outsized sense of ownership of the curb cut, which many neighbors have reported is often the source of many conflicts and screaming matches on the block. 

    “He is scary man,” one neighbor told Hamodia. “He’s a terrible person. He’s very nasty. If anyone comes close to parking near his driveway, he screams.”