New video shows suspects wanted in beating of Coney Island smoke shop owner
NEW YORK -- The NYPD has released new video of the suspects wanted for a brutal attack inside a Brooklyn smoke shop over the weekend -- an attack that sent the 58-year-old owner to the hospital.
Just Monday, supporters of the victim gathered outside the shop on Mermaid Avenue calling for the attack to be investigated as a hate crime. On Tuesday, the NYPD said officially it is handling it as such and is hunting for four suspects it believes to be responsible.
Police said the four men are wanted in connection with the beating of Jamal Sawaid.
New surveillance video released Monday night shows the men running away from Mermaid Avenue before fleeing in a white pickup truck, according to police.
The video comes three days after Sawaid's brutal attack inside his own Coney Island smoke shop. The victim, who spoke to CBS2 on Sunday, said three of the men, who he had never seen before, assaulted him for no reason, while a fourth stood outside as a guard.
"I smile like in his face and I think he joking ... and he hit me right away. The blood is going in the floor and I keep on going down and they keep on hitting me, all of them hitting me, over here, over there, over here," Sawaid said, describing where on his face and head he was struck.
Sawaid also said one of the men used a racial slur and then, as seen on surveillance video, smashed him with a metal pipe.
"I'm always surprised when something happens here because I feel like it's so sporadic and this is the first I'm hearing of a hate crime here," a local resident said.
READ MORE: Supporters of brutalized Brooklyn smoke shop owner want case probed as hate crime
The community gathered outside the shop on Sunday night, calling for action.
"Someone saw something. Help us. Come forward and tell us what you saw," another person said.
"Everybody in this city deserves to feel safe, deserves to be safe regardless of their ethnicity or background or religion, especially, you know, during a holy month like Ramadan," said Ahmed Mohamed, legal director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"It's scary. It's really scary. That's why all these businesses are standing together and saying we don't want this," added Marie Shahzada, the victim's wife.
Sawaid is an immigrant from Yemen. Police have confirmed the attack is being investigated as a hate crime. Shahzada is asking for the community's help as her husband recovers.
"With NYPD, they can't do it alone. We need you guys, the media. We need the public at large to say we know this guy," she said.
Dr. Debbie Almontaser, co-founder of the Yemeni American Merchants Association (YAMA), a nonprofit organization that advocates for Yemeni-American business owners, released the following statement:
"We were outraged and saddened to learn of this horrific attack on Jamal Sawaid, a New York City bodega owner and valued member of his community. We have extended our support to Mr. Sawaid's family and are praying for a full recovery from this unconscionable attack. This terrible incident is further proof of how urgently we need our elected officials to take action, and pass laws that will deliver real protection for bodega owners and other small businesses who are continuously subjected to threats and violence every single day. We call on local and state elected officials to pass legislation to protect our merchants and help put an end to these horrible attacks that continue to plague our community."
Anyone with information about the attack is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.