Jewish Security Patrol Pair Plead Guilty to Reduced Charges in Brooklyn Beating of Gay Black Man

By Graham Rayman Christina Carrega-Woodby
New York Daily News
May 25, 2016

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/men-plead-guilty-lesser-charges-bias-beating-article-1.2649548

Taj Patterson was left permanently blind in the Dec. 2013 beating.

Two of the men arrested in the horrific beating of a gay black man in Brooklyn pleaded guilty Wednesday to lesser charges.

Pinchas Braver and Abraham Winkler pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court in Brooklyn to unlawful imprisonment for their role in the beating of Taj Patterson, 25.

Patterson was walking down Flushing Ave. in Williamsburg in December 2013 when he was set upon by a gang of men linked to the Shomrim, a volunteer Orthodox Jewish security patrol. They shouted anti-gay slurs and beat him up, prosecutors said.

Patterson suffered savage injuries, including a broken eye socket and a torn retina that left him permanently blind in one eye.

Braver, 22, and Winkler, 42, will receive three years probation, pay $1,400 in restitution and serve 150 hours of community service. Their sentencing is set for Aug. 9.

Prosecutor Marc Fliedner recommended that their community service be served in a "culturally diverse neighborhood outside of where this unlawful imprisonment took place."

A third defendant, Mayer Herskovic, 24, did not take the plea deal and will also return to court Aug. 9. Charges against two other men — Aharon Hollender, 31, and Joseph Fried, 28, were dropped in 2014 and 2015.

Abraham Winkler (middle l.) and Pinchas Braver (middle r.) sign documents during their hearing at Brooklyn Supreme Court on Wednesday, May, 25, 2016. (CHRISTINA CARREGA-WOODBY/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

“In our fight to get justice for Taj Patterson, we secured these two defendants' guilty pleas for their role in the assault and based on the evidence against them,” said a spokesperson for the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.

“We will now continue to pursue the case against the remaining defendant and are prepared to go to trial.”

Patterson’s lawyer Andrew Stoll welcomed the pleas, and said there should be a broader investigation into the Shomrim.

"I'm pleased that two of the people involved in Taj Patterson's beating are now convicted criminals," he said. "If Herskovic wants to roll the dice and take his chances with a Brooklyn jury, I guess that's what juries are there for."

Attorneys for Braver and Winkler declined to comment Wednesday.

The case was weakened when at least two witnesses — who initially implicated the members of the Shomrim — changed their version of events, forcing prosecutors to seek the lesser charge, sources said.

Pinchas Braver, 22, (pictured) pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court in Brooklyn to unlawful imprisonment for their role in the beating. Abraham Winkler, 42, pleaded guilty to the same charge. (JESSE WARD/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

Prosecutors now plan to investigate why those witnesses changed their statements, the source said.

Surveillance video from the crime scene is limited, people familiar with the case told The News.

The Daily News reported May 17 that Braver, Winkler and Herskovic would not serve prison time under the expected plea deal. Herskovic ultimately decided to decline the deal.

The News also reported earlier this month that the NYPD probe into Patterson’s assault was almost buried because cops prematurely closed the case.

A sergeant was docked 10 vacation days for the move, which slowed the investigation by about 48 hours.

The News also reported that even as he was under indictment, Braver got a special tour of the Upper East Side's police precinct from an NYPD lieutenant he knew.