Jan 17th, 2008
by GerritsenBeach.net.
Via NY Daily News
Joseph Jirovec, 19, had pleaded guilty to the earlier racially motivated robbery of black teens in return for a six-month sentence, but his latest exploits on a Brooklyn Q train breached the deal.
Jirovec, who posed with a handgun pointed to the head of his girlfriend Kimberly Babajko in their Facebook and MySpace Web pages, wasn’t playing the tough guy act yesterday in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
“I want to be a good person. I’m begging for your mercy, please, ’cause I don’t want to be like this. And the people I’m around in jail is not helping that. I don’t want to do this anymore,” he told Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun.
The judge brushed aside the apology for breaking the deal and slapped Jirovec with 1-1/2 years to 4-1/2 years in prison.
A grand jury is considering hate crime charges in the Dec. 7 attack.
Jan 10th, 2008
by GerritsenBeach.net.
Via NY Post
One of the men charged with bashing a Jewish subway rider who wished him “Happy Hanukkah” was thrown in jail yesterday for a previous offense. A Brooklyn judge sentenced Joseph Jirovec, 19, to six months in the slammer for his role in a June 2006 attack on a group of black bicyclists in Gerritsen Beach.
The sentence was a result of plea deal Jirovec made with prosecutors earlier which gave him six months behind bars and five years probation on the condition he stay out of trouble.
But that was before he was arrested in December in the assault on Jewish straphanger Walter Adler, who had bid him “Happy Hanukkah.”
The story made headlines because Adler, 23, was saved from the beating by a Muslim fellow rider, Hassan Askari, 20.
Jirovec’s arrest in that attack could negate the previous plea deal and force him behind bars for the full 21/3 to 7 years.
His lawyers are contesting that December arrest, and a hearing is scheduled for Tuesday to determine if he will get more jail time.
Dec 19th, 2007
by GerritsenBeach.net.
Both of these thugs are from the area, and I say “the area” because I don’t want to admit that they are from Gerritsen Beach.
Although they don’t represent Gerritsen Beach as a community, it seems like their defense strategies could be coined as the “I’m from Gerritsen Beach” Defense.
What the hell is going on? Is this a few bad eggs?
Does anyone remember after the first Jirovec incident that the police cracked down on our area? The police told the NY Times:
But the police tell a different story. They say the people of Gerritsen Beach have turned inward and wrapped themselves in silence. Deputy Inspector Michael J. Osgood, commanding officer of the Hate Crimes Task Force, said residents of areas where other racially charged episodes occurred — in Howard Beach, Queens; Mill Basin, Brooklyn; and Great Kills, Staten Island — had readily provided the investigators with useful tips.
But the more people in Gerritsen Beach are pressed for information, Inspector Osgood said, the more they shut down.
“The people in the community are refusing to speak to the N.Y.P.D.,†Inspector Osgood said. “We’ve never had this happen before in the city of New York.â€
What do you think?
Dec 14th, 2007
by GerritsenBeach.net.
NY Post
Hate-crime charges against the 10 young Brooklynites accused of beating a Jewish man on a Q train last week will be presented to a grand jury, prosecutors said in court today.
The additional evidence of anti-Semitic remarks made during the Dec. 7 incident could raise the existing misdemeanor assault charges to felonies.
“At this point, with the information we have, we believe we have enough evidence to submit the case to a grand jury,” said Charles Guria, the Brooklyn DA’s bias-crimes chief.
The prosecutor’s remarks followed a routine court appearance for three of the people charged, Kimberly Babajko, 19, Jaimie Conti, 19, and Joseph Mignano, 20.
All three left the courthouse without comment.
Via Gothamist
Joseph Jirovec and Kimberly Babajko are two of ten people arrested in an attack that was initiated by a friendly greeting of “Happy Channukah!” aboard a Q train in Brooklyn last week. Both Jirovec and Babajko have criminal records for assaulting minorities and could face hate crime charges in their latest brush with justice. Both are scheduled to appear in Brooklyn Criminal Court today for the vicious beating they allegedly administered to Walter Adler, who was on his way home from a holiday dinner. Adler and his girlfriend were spared further injury when a complete stranger, Hassan Askari, intervened at his own physical expense. The young Muslim man was beaten alongside Adler.
(more…)
Dec 11th, 2007
by GerritsenBeach.net.
[Click for video]
The 19-year-old son of a city firefighter, who was charged with a hate crime for allegedly beating two black men in Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn, last year, was involved in another attack over the weekend, police said.
Joseph Jirovec of Brooklyn was among a group who confronted four Jews wishing each other “Happy Chanukah” aboard a Q train in Brooklyn, police said.
“Chanukah is when the Jews killed Jesus,” police said the group yelled. The pack then began beating the Jews – two men and two women.
The 10 were arrested at the DeKalb Ave. station and charged with assault and unlawful assembly. The hate crimes task force is investigating. Among those arrested was Zachary Rogalski, 19, of Brooklyn, who was charged in a 2005 attack on several black youths in Marine Park
What does this have to do with Gerritsen Beach? Joseph Jirovec is the same guy who was involved in a hate crime last year and is again being charged in a second hate crime. This the hate crime involves four Jews celebrating Chanukah on a early morning Q train.
UPDATE: Over 100 Comments on the NY Daily News article
Nov 4th, 2006
by GerritsenBeach.net.
November 4, 2006 — When cops questioned Joseph Jirovec about his alleged role in an attack on four black youths in Brooklyn’s mostly white Gerritsen Beach neighborhood last summer, he offered a highly unusual defense: membership in the Bloods gang.
According to court papers made public yesterday following his arraignment in the June 26 attack, Jirovec, 18, a metalworker, said his street name was “Bloody Fitted” and that he held the rank of two-star general in the violent street gang.
A gang admission normally wouldn’t score points with cops, but Jirovec said yesterday it showed how baseless the charges of hate-crime robbery and assault were.
“Most of my friends are black and Spanish,” said Jirovec, the son of a city firefighter now serving as an Army staff sergeant in Iraq.
The papers also noted that Jirovec was arrested wearing a black hat, red and black beads, a red T-shirt and red and black sneakers – signature Bloods colors.
Jirovec was arraigned with five others yesterday in Brooklyn Supreme Court, including William Dunphy, 23, who surrendered yesterday morning in response to a secret grand-jury indictment.
Link to Article
Link to PDF
Discuss Here
The Jirovec and Fortunato Defense aka the I’m from Gerritsen Beach Defense
Both of these thugs are from the area, and I say “the area” because I don’t want to admit that they are from Gerritsen Beach.
Although they don’t represent Gerritsen Beach as a community, it seems like their defense strategies could be coined as the “I’m from Gerritsen Beach” Defense.
What the hell is going on? Is this a few bad eggs?
Does anyone remember after the first Jirovec incident that the police cracked down on our area? The police told the NY Times:
What do you think?