Dania Beach, FL – The Broward Sheriff’s Office is searching for a man who deputies said hurled an anti-Semitic slur at a victim before assaulting him.
The attack occurred around 5:30 p.m. Feb. 7 near the 2400 block of Stirling Road in Dania Beach.
According to authorities, the victim was riding his bicycle and talking on the phone in Hebrew when a man walking by hurled an antisemitic slur at him before punching him in the face.
“The strike caused the victim to fall off the bike and to the ground,” a BSO news release stated. “The attacker then approached the victim, who stood up. A few seconds later, the subject walked away.”
Authorities said the attacker is seen in the video getting into a verbal altercation with several workers in the area who witnessed the assault, but he eventually left the scene.
Albert Sagib is the owner of nearby Pita Xpress. He said he ran to help the victim after witnessing what happened.
“We heard a lot of noise, crying, we jump up from the restaurant, we didn’t know what was going on even,” Sagib said.
Sagib also heard the insults the man yelled at his victim as he threw the blow and in the moments after.
“He called him ‘fucking Jew’” Sagib said.
The assailant was captured on cell phone video arguing with those who ran to help in the moments immediately following the incident.
“When he saw a lot of people, he just run away,” Sagib said.
The victim was hospitalized as a result of the attack but his father told Local 10 News that his son has since been released and continues to recover.
“That’s terrible,” said Rabbi Joe Soshtain of the Young Israel of Hollywood Synagogue. “It’s appalling that you can’t walk on your own streets and ride in your own streets, it’s a terrible, terrible feeling and things have to change.”
