US Jewish journalist dies months after alleged racist attack left him in coma

Jerry Wolkowitz, a freelance photographer and paramedic, was brutally assaulted outside his NJ home; suspect told police he attacked him for being white

By ToI Staff 23 October 2018, 9:16 am

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Jerry Wolkowitz (Facebook photo)

An American Jewish journalist and paramedic has died, five months after he was assaulted in an apparent racially motivated attack and left in a vegetative state.

Jerry Wolkowitz, 56, was allegedly attacked by 25-year-old Jamil Hubbard in May outside his home in Freehold, New Jersey. Hubbard beat him and dragged him into a parking lot, where he ran him over with his car before stealing Wolkowitz’s vehicle and fleeing.

Hubbard was arrested shortly after the attack and told authorities he had assaulted Wolkowitz because he was a white man. He was indicted for attempted murder, armed robbery and several other charges.

Wolkowitz was rushed to a hospital where he was kept on life support until his death late last week.

Wolkowitz had worked for many years as a freelance photographer for the Asbury Park Press and also as an EMT.

“It’s so profoundly heartbreaking that this has happened,” Noel Olivarius of Freehold’s First Aid and Rescue Squad told the Asbury Park Press. “Jerry was nothing but kindness and goodness. His family has endured more than anyone.”