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A man punched a Jewish visitor from New York in the head and hurled hateful remarks tied to Israel and the Middle East conflict at him and his wife during a confrontation in Surfside on Sunday, August 16, police said.
The couple, identified only as Abraham and Sophia, had just left a restaurant when the man approached on an electric scooter and the encounter escalated, police said. Video shows him swinging and striking Abraham.
“He charges at me, and he starts to hit me,” Abraham said.
Sophia recorded part of the episode on her cellphone. She said the man then moved toward her, appearing to intend to strike her as well, until an older passerby shouted at him in Spanish to stop. “He was just saying so much hate… with such hatred,” she said.
Police arrested 35-year-old Jorden Perozo on charges of battery and harassment Wednesday. Detectives tracked him to his job at Flanigan’s, a restaurant on Harding Avenue near the site of the assault.
“We want to tell you here in Surfside we’re not going to tolerate any of that,” Interim Surfside Police Chief Jay Matelis said. “You do any of that stuff, you’re going to jail.”
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