Add The New York Post on Google A high-risk sex offender chased a Jewish student at knifepoint in Brooklyn this week – before snarling “Hail f–king Hitler” as the victim escaped the terrifying encounter, according to cops and video.
The menace, later identified as Devin Best, 48, approached the 24-year-old victim at Park Place and Brooklyn Avenue in Crown Heights around 2:50 a.m. Wednesday and began cursing at and threatening him, according to authorities.
When the startled victim began running away, Best allegedly chased him down while continuing to threaten him and brandishing a knife, police said.
A startling video released by Crown Heights Shmira shows the moment the victim – identified by the volunteer patrol group as a “Bochur,” or young male yeshiva student – sprinted toward his home, with the unhinged man on his tail.
As the victim ran inside, the creep seethed, “Go in the house! Now I know where you live, p–y! That’s what I wanted. Hail f–king Hitler!”, the footage shows.
He then appeared to slash the tires of a bike outside the home while bellowing, “B—h n—ga!” before taking off.
Cops ultimately caught up to Best, of the Bronx, and charged him with aggravated harassment as a hate crime and menacing, authorities said. The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating, according to cops.
His arraignment was pending Thursday, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the terrifying early Wednesday ordeal. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post Best – who is listed in public records as a Level 3 sex offender, the highest risk in New York State – has four previous arrests on his record, including the rape of a 12-year-old girl in September of 1998, law enforcement sources said.
In May of 1999, he allegedly forced another juvenile victim to the ground and kissed her, according to the sources.
Two days later, Best allegedly sexually abused another victim, the sources said.
He also has an arrest on his record for possession of a loaded gun in December of 1997, according to the sources.
The disposition of those cases was not immediately known.
