Brooklyn, NY – Williamsburg Hasidic Man Convicted Of Gang Assault

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    New York – Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson today announced that a 24-year-old man from Williamsburg, Brooklyn was convicted of gang assault and related charges for his role in the brutal beating of Taj Patterson, a young man who was walking in the street when he was set upon by over a dozen people.

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    District Attorney Thompson said, “Today’s verdict is a testament to our determination to fully prosecute this case based on the evidence, which clearly connected this defendant to the crime. I hope that this outcome will bring a measure of comfort to Mr. Patterson and his family.”

    The District Attorney identified the defendant as Mayer Herskovic, 24, of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He was convicted today of second-degree gang assault, first-degree unlawful imprisonment and menacing following a bench trial before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun. The defendant faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

    The District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on December 1, 2013, at about 4:40 a.m., Taj Patterson was walking on Flushing Avenue in Williamsburg when a man, later joined by other men, started to chase him. The victim ran, but the group, eventually comprised of 15 to 20 men, caught up to him near the corner of Flushing Avenue and Spencer Street.

    The victim was then punched, kicked, stomped and had his eye poked by members of the group, according to testimony. He suffered facial fractures, retinal damage and lost eyesight in his right eye.

    In the course of the attack, the evidence showed, a sneaker worn by the victim was stripped off his foot and thrown onto the roof of an adjacent building. DNA recovered from that sneaker matches the defendant’s.


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    25 Comments
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    Sol-Sol
    Sol-Sol
    7 years ago

    One needs to wonder what he was thinking when he refused to take the plea deal that was offered to the whole group

    7 years ago

    Don’t believe for one minute Mr. Patterson was just walking along and minding his own business.

    ALTERG3
    ALTERG3
    7 years ago

    There is NO clearly evidence that he punced this guy so why is he guilty for? For throwing his sneakers he’s getting 15 years? BTW the punching was a self defense cause he punched them first (he just got bkind cause he fall on a metal thing)

    Monseyer
    Monseyer
    7 years ago

    He didn’t want a plea deal?

    ChareidiMan
    ChareidiMan
    7 years ago

    One must wonder what was he thinking to take a chance in trial, someone advised him real bad!!

    PaulinSaudi
    PaulinSaudi
    7 years ago

    Seems to be a thug who needs to be in jail.

    AuthenticSatmar
    AuthenticSatmar
    7 years ago

    Contrary to what was reported, he was not offered a deal like the others. The DA knew that with DNA they were going to have some win at trial.
    He should’ve hired a real lawyer with experience at trial. The defense was weak, and didn’t take advantage of allot of opportunities.

    7 years ago

    What a dumb attorney who said the DNA on the shoe which matched Herscovic perfectly could have been from any chasid since all chasids are related and have similar DNA.

    savtat
    savtat
    7 years ago

    And what were they all doing out at 4:40 AM?

    7 years ago

    the guy was drunk and breaking car windows.

    Long-Island-Yid
    Long-Island-Yid
    7 years ago

    Even if the chasidim were wrong, but what was their rational for picking on this guy? Did they think he was previously doing something wrong and they accidentally found the wrong guy? I assume they weren’t just out that night looking for someone to randomly beat up?

    7 years ago

    To Ina-#2- Your remark was stupid, insensitive, and had no basis in fact. The individuals who attacked the victim, and blinded him in one eye, were nothing but vigilante street thugs. They attacked the victim, because they did not like his looks. They were nothing but predators. We should not excuse their actions because of their religious observance. I guarantee you that if it was the other way around, you would have a totally different opinion, and would be screaming for justice!.