Crime

Local man arrested in attack on Jewish man in Times Square

May 26, 2021 Jaime DeJesus

Joseph Borgen was attacked by five men in Times Square.

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A Bay Ridge man was arrested for allegedly assaulting a Jewish man in Times Square May 20.

Waseem Awawdeh, 23, was charged with assault/hate crime, gang assault, menacing, aggravated harassment/hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon.

Cops said the victim, Joseph Borgen, 29, was walking near Broadway and West 49th Street at 6:44 p.m. when he was approached by five men who made anti-Semitic slurs. The men knocked him to the ground, punched, kicked and pepper-sprayed him. They also hit him with a pair of crutches.

According to the New York Post, a prosecutor at Awawdeh’s arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on May 22 said the suspect told one of his jailers, “If I could do it again, I would do it again.”

The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating.

Police are searching for four additional suspects in the attack on Joseph Borgen. Photo courtesy of NYPD

Anyone with information can call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-8477 (or 1-888-577-4782 for Spanish). Tips can also be submitted at nypdcrimestoppers.com or on Twitter at @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.