Brooklyn car on sidewalk: Driver arrested and charged with hate crimes after jumping curb in front of East Flatbush yeshiva

EAST FLATBUSH, Brooklyn (WABC) — Police arrested and charged a man with a range of hate crimes, including attempted murder, after he allegedly tried to hit a group of people with a car outside a yeshiva in Brooklyn on Wednesday.

Authorities say the suspect, Asghar Ali, 58, jumped the curb on Glenwood Road and drove his white Ford Crown Victoria onto the sidewalk around 11:35 a.m.

The video shows the car drive onto the sidewalk and pursue a group of young men, several of whom fled toward the Mesivta Yakov School for safety.

Moments earlier, on the other side of the building, the vehicle's wheels were smoking when the driver braked suddenly after spotting another group of Jewish teenagers.

Eyewitness News spoke with two of the young men off-camera who were outside when this man tried to run them over.

They say he was driving on Glenwood Road and when he spotted them, he turned around and got on the sidewalk.

They say the driver shouted at them: “I’m going to kill all the Jews.”

Simon Gifter, an independent journalist, claims to have heard the suspect declaiming to the cops behind the walls of the police station.

“I was outside and I heard him screaming nonstop like crazy,” Gifter said.

Ali was charged with a dozen charges, including attempted murder as a hate crime, menacing as a hate crime and attempted first-degree vehicular assault.

The most recent NYPD statistics show that hate crimes against ethnic groups have remained the same or decreased, with the exception of Jewish and Muslim New Yorkers, who each saw a 100% increase.

Community leaders say these days the yeshiva doors are always locked.

“There is a real fear in the community that this is just another incident and that something more tragic is going to happen. Much more tragic,” said community leader Leon Goldenberg.

“It scares us. But on the other hand, we know the police are there and the mayor takes these things seriously,” said Mendy Mirocznik of Mayor Eric Adams' Jewish Advisory Council.

No one was physically injured in this incident, but a community already on edge is now shaken.

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