They may hate the residents of Prospect Avenue, but not because of their religion.
So explained cops from the 72nd Precinct who said that the goons who hurled eggs at three Windsor Terrace homes earlier this month are not being sought for a hate crime.
Inconsistent statements that came from a neighborhood vagrant who witnessed the attack led police to back away from pursuing hate crime charges, 72nd Precinct Detective Michael Cleary, a long time neighborhood beat cop, told members of the Windsor Terrace Alliance Thursday.
“This is not a bias crime,” said Cleary, assuaging fears sparked by a recent Daily News story indicating that the egg hurlers yelled anti-Semitic statements as they attacked the homes near Greenwood Avenue – one of which is owned by commercial diver Lenny Speregen.
Speregen told reporters that he was awakened at 2 a.m. on October 6 to the sound of eggs and rocks smacking against his windows and front door.
When he ran outside, the egg throwers, who were wearing Halloween masks, scattered, but returned to finish the job when Speregen went back inside to find sometime to clean up the mess.
“This came out of left field,” Speregen told the Daily News. “I feel 40 percent anger and 60 percent fear. My family lives here.”
Cleary told Alliance members that the case’s anti-Semitic slant came from a area homeless man who saw the incident.
At first the witness said he heard the suspects yell anti-Semitic slurs. His recollection, however, became cloudier after repeated questioning.
Cops were now investigating if anyone had a beef with Speregen or his neighbors, Cleary explained.
“[The residents] are all known to one another,” he said. “They may have had a problem with some kids hanging out there.”
Cleary said that cops were still investigating an earlier neighborhood bias crime in which someone scrawled “F—k the Jews” on a sign outside of Chai Tots yeshiva on Prospect Avenue back on September 23.
Administrators said that they had just placed the sign outside the center ten days before the attack – when they dedicated the new Torah.
Cops are hoping that a video tape of the incident will help them identify the vandal.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is being urged to come forward.
Calls can be made to the NYPD CrimeStoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
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