A postal worker from Rockland County, involved in an aggressive incident with a 4-year-old Jewish boy, is anticipated to face additional charges, according to local police. The decision to keep the suspect’s identity private has sparked widespread criticism.
The 39-year-old mail carrier, whose name remains undisclosed, is expected to be charged with attempted assault in the second degree, as announced by the Ramapo Police Department on Saturday.
This development follows the previous day’s charges against the postal worker, which included misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child and attempted assault in the third degree for the attack, which was captured on video.
Surveillance footage from a nearby home shows the young Orthodox Jewish boy approaching a community mailbox while the postal worker was restocking it with his back turned.
As the child neared the mailbox, the postal worker suddenly spun around and forcefully pushed him with both hands, causing the boy to fall and lose his yarmulke, according to the video first published by The Monsey Scoop.
The boy quickly got back on his feet, retrieved his religious headwear, and ran back to a group of friends standing nearby.
The 4-year-old was not physically hurt and police have not yet deemed the incident a hate crime.
The mail carrier, a resident of Stony Point, was arrested Thursday and released on his own recognizance and processed in Ramapo Town Justice Court.
The Ramapo Police Department said it “very rarely” identify suspects in news releases, and declined to provide the name of the postal worker.
New Yorkers took to social media to express their outrage that the authorities have not announced the identity of the mail carrier who is due back in court at an unspecified date.
“Why are you hiding his name,” Facebook user JP Gale said in a Facebook comment Friday. “You’re going out of your way to protect the identity of a man who assaulted a child, and I think we can all guess why.”
“We need this man’s name. He is a danger,” Frienda Bill demanded in another comment on the platform.
“Where is this person’s name and the news conference? He assaulted a child,” Melissa Alpegiani Fogarty asked in a Facebook comment.
The United States Post Office declined comment Saturday when asked if the mail carrier was still on the job and would not comment on the video of the shove.
The Ramapo Town Justice Court did not respond to request for comment.
