NYC Man arrested in February stabbing of Brooklyn Jew

Yehuda Lib Brikman, 25, was attacked on a sidewalk in Crown Heights, the neighborhood where the Chabad-Lubavitch movement’s world headquarters are located.

By DANIELLE ZIRI
Updated: MARCH 13, 2016 04:41
Crime scene (illustrative) (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Crime scene (illustrative)
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
NEW YORK – The New York Police Department arrested a 26-year-old man in connection to the stabbing of an Orthodox man in Brooklyn last month.
Yehuda Lib Brikman, 25, the son of a prominent local Chabad rabbi, was attacked on Empire Boulevard in Crown Heights, the neighborhood where the Chabad-Lubavitch movement’s world headquarters are located.
The NYPD was looking for a black male who fled the scene.
The suspect has been identified as Kenny Rochelin. According to initial reports, Rochelin may be homeless and was apprehended on Wednesday after and charged with mugging and stabbing two other victims in Prospect Park.
The Anti-Defamation League praised the NYPD for the arrest.
“We saw firsthand how this horrific crime shook the Crown Heights Jewish community to its core,” ADL New York Regional Director Evan R. Bernstein said.
“The suspect must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and we hope a resolution in this case brings peace of mind to all of Rochelin’s victims.
Following the Crown Heights attack, ADL had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator, and noted that the crime was just one in a series of traumatic attacks recently in which Jews across New York City, particularly in Brooklyn, have been singled out for violence.
However, in light of the identity of Rochelin’s other victims, it seems unlikely that the attack on Bikman was a hate crime against Jews.