Farrukh Afzal, 37, of Staten Island was charged with assault, hate crime, criminal mischief and harassment for the attack, which took place at around 7:30AM near 46th Street and 13th Avenue.
R’ Lipa Schwartz, 62, was walking to Shul, Tallis and Tefillin in hand, when a black “Church Ave Car Service” vehicle driven by Afzal came to a screeching halt at the curb nearby. Afzal got out, ran towards Schwartz and began punching him in his face while screaming “Allah, Allah” repeatedly.
“He came out from the car. I couldn’t explain to you how angry he was. He was screaming the whole time,” Schwartz Schwartz told CBS2.
“All of a sudden… boof, boof, boof, boof!”, Schwartz said, referring to the barrage of punches that came his way. “So I start to fight back because it’s either death or life.”
Schwartz, a father of nine, ran towards 46th Street, but he tripped and Afzal caught up to him and once again began to beat him mercilessly.
“I fell down on the street. All of a sudden he’s on my head again, start to punch me. I screamed, ‘What you want from me?!? Help me please,’” Schwartz said.
Fortunately, a passerby approached to stop the attack, and Afzal went after him. Police said it was that distraction that likely saved Schwartz. Witnesses kept the driver at the scene until cops arrived and arrested him.
“I’m telling you if he had a knife he would stab me right on the place. No doubt,” Schwartz said.
Police later told CBS2’s Hazel Sanchez that Afzal had mistaken Schwartz for another Hasidic man who had hit his car for no apparent reason while he was stopped at a red light.