2 Dodge Prison Time in 2013 Beating of Black Man in Williamsburg

Vos Is Neias
May 26, 2016

http://www.vosizneias.com/239675/2016/05/25/brooklyn-ny-2-dodge-prison-time-in-2013-beating-of-black-man-in-williamsburg/

Brooklyn, NY - Two of the men arrested in the December 2013 beating of a black man in Williamsburg will avoid jail time, pleading guilty yesterday to charges of unlawful imprisonment in a Brooklyn State Supreme Court.

The two men, 22 year old Pinchas Braver and 42 year old Abraham Winkler, will receive three years probation, serve 150 hours of community service and pay $1,400 in restitution as reported by the Daily News. Both are expected to be sentenced on August 9th.

Prosecutor Marc Fliedner requested that the two men not be allowed to perform their community service in Williamsburg but rather be assigned to a “culturally diverse neighborhood outside of where this unlawful imprisonment took place.”

[iously reported on VIN News (http:]

Five men were arrested in the attack but charges against 31 year old Aharon Hollender and 28 year old Joseph Fried were subsequently dropped. A fifth man arrested in the attack, 24 year old Mayer Heskovic, declined to accept the plea deal and will stand trial for his part in the beating.

“I’m pleased that two of the people involved in Taj Patterson’s beating are now criminals,” said attorney Andrew Stoll, who represents Patterson. “If Herskovic wants to roll the dice and take his chances with a Brooklyn jury, I guess that’s what juries are there for.”

Stoll called for an investigation into Shomrim as controversy continues to swirl around the case.

Prosecutors are said to be looking into why witnesses changed their original version of events, forcing the district attorney’s office to seek less severe charges in the case.

An NYPD sergeant who was found to have prematurely closed the case, causing a 48 hour delay in the investigation, was punished several weeks ago with the loss of 10 vacation days. A photograph of Braver taking a VIP tour of the Upper East Side’s 19th Precinct last year surfaced several weeks ago, creating further questions in light of last month’s reassignment of the precinct’s commanding officer, Deputy Inspector James Grant, as part of the NYPD corruption scandal.

“It’s just further evidence that the Shomrim are not just tolerated by the NYPD - they are for all purposes an extension of the NYPD which is unsurprising given that they’re funded and receive law enforcement equipment directly from the City,” said Stoll.