Young Woman Attacked On Hoyt Street Near President Street Last Friday Night At 11:30 PM

Yes, Carroll Gardens is one of the safest neighborhoods in the City, but it doesn't mean that one shouldn't be careful.
The attack on a young woman on Hoyt Street right at the corner of President Street last Friday evening at around 11:30 PM shocked residents because of its brazen nature. Though Hoyt Street can be quiet at night, there are still lots of people walking around the neighborhood at that time of the evening.
According to several block residents, this is what happened:
A young woman in her mid-20's was walking back over the Carroll Street Bridge towards Carroll Gardens from Park Slope. She was approached by a man who told her that he had lost his cell phone.  He used this as a conversation starter and as a distraction. He started to follow her, then grabbed her and put her in a chokehold, covered her mouth and forced her to the ground. She managed to free herself and to scream for help. Neighbors and a dog walker immediately came to her help.
The attacker fled towards 3rd Street.  He was described as "hispanic with elbow-length curly hair," wearing a white T-Shirt. 911 was called and officers of the 76th Precinct on Union Street responded.
It would appear that the police may be familiar with the suspect.

Thankfully,  the woman was fine, just badly shaken. She got in a squad car with Police to try and locate the man who had attacked her.

I have reached out to the 76th Precinct and am waiting for a call back.  I will update the post as soon as I have further information.

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Report On Disturbing Attack On Court Street

Over the week-end, I got two disturbing emails in my inbox. The first one is from Reader J. who wrote to let me know that she and her friend were attached on Court Street today. She writes:

On Court Street, Saturday at around 3:30 PM, in front of Papel (Warren & Court) a teenager attacked three people (one of them, a friend of mine whose nose was broken in the melee), for no apparent reason. He got into an altercation with a man on a bicycle and this some how escalated into him attacking a man standing in the doorway of Papel and then rushing at me when I screamed that I was calling the police. Long story short, he got away down Warren Street towards Smith
If your readers have any more information about him or his whereabouts, we'd appreciate it. We'd like to press charges. He was probably 15-16 years old, 5'6"(ish), slim build, with dark curly shoulder length hair, possibly Latino, dark/navy backpack, blue jeans, sneakers, black baseball hat.
Also, just in case--the man who was attacked in Papel was apparently picking out his wedding invitations with his bride-to-be, if you post this and they see this I wish them the best of luck and I hope they have a very happy wedding! At least it will be memorable...

The police were called and a report was filed.  If anyone witnessed the incident or saw the attacher on either Court or Smith Street, please contact the 76th Precinct (718 834 3211.) You can also send me an email at pardonmeinbrooklyn at gmail dot com and I will forward it to J.

The second incident happened on Friday afternoon at 4:30 Pm. Luckily, no one got hurt in this particular one, but it is notable for the lack of response and 'no show" from the 76th Precinct even after two calls to 911.
This is how Reader M described what happened:

A. and I were on Court Street, Friday 4th May 2012 around 4:30pm, when a mob of school kids 12 to 14 years old, rushed pass us and tossed a knapsack by the doorway of 396 Court. Presuming that the backpack had been stolen, A. and I tried to be good samaritans and called the 76th precinct only to get a recording. We then called 911 and were told a car will be there.
20 minutes later we saw a police car come down Court and A. waved them down. They stopped at the far corner down the street and Anna walked over and told them about the bag. They told her they were responding to another call and a different car will be coming soon. Another 15 minutes, not a single police car came.As our backs were turned, another group of kids came by. One young man proceeds to take the bag. When we tried to stop him and told him we had called the police, his entourage threateningly gestured at us to stop bothering them. They then ran off through the park down toward Smith. Totally shocked, we called 911 again and waited and waited and waited.
Anna G and I left the scene after waiting another 20 minutes. I went home to call the 76th Precinct to report the incident only to get a recording. I tried to connect with the Community Affair rep only to hear five rings and then disconnected....no operator...no one!Around 6:05pm, I got a call from what sounded like a bored and intimidating female officer, only to get disconnected when I started asking why it took so long to respond. Is this how our police force should act? Are we really safe?

Granted, this was not an emergency, but this should have prompted some kind of response from our precinct. After all, New Yorkers are reminded regularly about reporting unattended bags. 

It does seem rather astonishing that it was impossible to connect to anyone at the 76th Precinct on a Friday afternoon.

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Just In: Reported Robbery Attempt At Smith Street Laundromat

Just received a report that there was an attempted robbery at Super Laundromat on Smith, between Carroll and Second Street.  The incident occurred at about 7 Pm.  Apparently, the robber tried to choke one of the women who work at the place.  Officers from the 76th Precinct are there right now interviewing her and her co-worker.  
No word yet if any arrests were made. 


*Thanks J. for alerting us to the incident.

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Concern Over Increase In Robberies In Carroll Gardens

According to Captain Lewis of the 76th Precinct, which covers South Brooklyn, there has been an uptick in the crime statistics for the area lately. Robberies in particular are up 40%. At last night's Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association monthly meeting, Captain Lewis called them "impulse crimes" mostly involving the theft of electronic devices such as I pods and I phones. Apparently, many of the the robberies are clustered in 4-5 block areas and have been committed by a specific group of young men between the ages of 14 to 17. Captain Lewis assured the community that the precinct is 'throwing all our resources at this." Several arrests have been made.

One local resident reached out to me in the email below to express her concern about a particular incident that happened on Degraw Street on Tuesday afternoon. She writes:

I live on Degraw between Court and Smith. Last night, around 1:00 am, the fourth floor tenant in my building witnessed (from his window) a neighbor across the street being harassed and mugged by a group of six young men. The tenant called the police, but they took approximately 7 minutes to show up, by which point the young men has sauntered away with the wallet and thrown a trash can at the head of the man who was robbed. Today, I have spoken with many neighbors on the block who are concerned about what seems to be a rise in crime lately. I just learned that both a building next door and one across the street have been robbed this past year. In my building, we have contacted the police about setting up a meeting with the community affairs officer. I wonder if other residents might be interested in participating, and I thought that perhaps writing to you would be a good place to start.

We are all still quite shaken about what happened last night. I love this neighborhood; even though I have only been living here for four years, I am the fourth generation in my family to live in Carroll Gardens, so I am very committed to its safety and prosperity.

The 76th Precinct is holding its monthly community meeting on Tuesday, September 13th at 7:30 PM at the precinct house at 191 Union Street . This is the perfect place to bring up these concerns and to get first hand information from the police.And as always, if you see anything suspicious or witness an incident, please call 911 immediately.

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Everyone Slightly On Edge After Young Woman's Sexual Assault In Gowanus Area

From Park Slope, to Gowanus and to Caroll Gardens, the one subject on everyone's mind over the week-end was the sexual assault of a young woman in the Gowanus area. The attack on the 22-year-old happened at 9 AM on Friday in a bakery where she works.

On Third Avenue, between Carroll and President Streets, a group of local residents were standing in front of a social club, discussing the matter, while two police women taped "Reward" posters on street lights.

"What a shame" one of the residents said.

°°°°°°°

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Neighborhood News: Beating Of Young Man In Carroll Cardens Investigated As Possible Hate Crime

Hate Has No Place In Carroll Gardens!

By now, you have probably heard about the vicious beating of a 22-year old man by five thugs on Luquer Street, close to Hamilton Avenue.

The police is investigating this incident as a hate crime, since the 5 cowardly attackers were shouting anti-gay slurs.



I cannot tell you how sickened I am by this incident. As members of this community, we should stand up firmly against such hate in our neighborhood.

Here is a statement from the 76th Precinct:

As many of you are probably aware from media reports, on Tuesday, March 2, 2010 at approximately 12:50 am police responded to Luquer Street and Hamilton Avenue to investigate an assault. Upon arrival officers discovered a male who had been assaulted by five males while they were uttering anti-gay slurs to him. The victim suffered lacerations to the back of the head and bruises to the face. The victim was treated at a hospital for his injuries. This case is being investigated by NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force as a Hate Crime at this time. Unfortunately, we do not have a good description of the attackers to distribute at this time, but believe that the perpetrators may live in or frequent the area where the crime occurred.

We are urging anyone who may have information regarding this crime to call the 76th Precinct Detective Squad at 718-834-3221 or, you can report it anonymously by either calling 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), texting "TIP577" plus your message to "CRIMES" (274637), or via the internet at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com . All calls will be strictly confidential.

And below is a statement just released by Borough President Marty Markowitz:

“Our hearts go out to this victim. There is something especially disgusting about crimes motivated by hate—whether it be on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. In Brooklyn our diversity is our strength, and when one of us is attacked, we are all attacked. I am confident the NYPD will find the bigot thugs who did this—and make no mistake, they will find them—and we must make sure they and anybody else who would contemplate such a crime gets the message loud and clear: intolerance will not be tolerated!”

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

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