Driver tries to run down Jews leaving Los Angeles synagogue

Los Angeles police arrest a man who allegedly attempted to run over two people outside an area synagogue.

The incident occurred on Friday night. Police are investigating it as a possible hate crime, the NBC Los Angeles affiliate reports.

A security camera video shows the driver trying to run down the two men, leaving the Bais Yehuda Shul, and then reversing and trying to hit them again, CBS LA reports. The victims wore clothing typically worn by Orthodox Jews on Shabbat. The driver also reportedly shouted anti-Semitic epithets at them. He was stopped when his car ran a stop sign and slammed into another vehicle.

“Why he chose us? Probably because of the yarmulkes on our heads,” one of the victims tells CBS.

The alleged attacker has been identified as Mohammed Mohammed, 32. He is being held on $55,000 bail and charged with assault with a deadly weapon with a vehicle.

— JTA