Man accused of plowing into migrants at NYC shelter claims self defense

The man accused of plowing into two immigrants from a Brooklyn shelter with his car told Gothamist that he’s an immigrant himself who was trying to confront someone who stole food from his restaurant.

Hamzeh Alwawi, 42, who is originally from Jordan, spoke to Gothamist this week after making $30,000 bond to secure his release from Rikers Island after being charged with attempted murder, among other charges.

Because of those charges, and due to a little-known provision in the law for immigrant victims of crimes, Alwawi’s fortunes in his adopted home may be at an end — while those he’s accused of attacking may be getting a leg up on the American dream.

“I am not a criminal guy…when I go to the cops, I told them I’m dreaming, what’s going on with me?” he said.

Alwawi owns BurgerIM, a Halal burger joint on the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Steuben Street in Clinton Hill. He said meals have been swiped several times in the past by men posing as delivery cyclists, and this time, he’d had enough.

Around 3 a.m. Sunday, he tracked that night’s supposed meal thief to the migrant shelter a few blocks away, on Hall Street.

Police said he then got into an altercation with a group of men in front of the shelter, got into his car and drove into two of them. He was later arrested at his restaurant and charged with attempted murder, assault, menacing and harassment.

Alwawi’s version of events differs from that of witnesses, police and prosecutors who filed the criminal complaint, as well as the two victims. Alwawi’s lawyer did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

But Alwawi himself was eager to tell Gothamist his side of the story.

He denied hitting anyone with his car, and said “it is not normal” that he’s accused of attempted murder and other charges after the alleged attack. Alwawi claims a group of migrants surrounded his 2021 Lexus after he showed up in front of the shelter demanding the food be returned — and that he was trying to protect himself.

“I’m trying to run from them, one hit me in my back, I fall on the floor, I want to get up, another one beat me,” Alwawi said. “After that, I ran … They surrounded the car. They start beating the car. I take off from this area. They ride the scooter and they run behind me.”

The NYPD and Brooklyn DA’s office both said they had no information to back up that sequence of events. Migrant witnesses and victims interviewed by Gothamist at the shelter Monday consistently said Alwawi was threatening residents with a metal pipe when he first approached.

After one resident was able to talk him down and wrest the pipe out of his hands, witnesses said that Alwawi got into his car and drove straight towards his victims, then circled the block and tried to hit them again.

A Brooklyn criminal court complaint alleges that Alwawi struck Yoandry Lozano Bracho, 28, and another 21-year-old migrant with his car, leaving them both with “substantial pain” and various injuries to their arms and legs. On Monday, Lozano Bracho recounted the incident, his maimed foot in a bandage.

But Alwawi, a married father of two young children — who has been in the U.S. for 20 years and has no criminal record — denied any malicious intent. He claimed he drove up to the shelter, saw the thief standing outside, asked him why he’d taken the food, and the situation escalated from there.

Police officials confirmed that the altercation between Alwawi and his victims was over stolen food, but did not have additional details.

“I see big group and this guy between them,”Alwawi said. “I go stand up front of he who [stole] the order and I told him I need my order back.”

Alwawi said a group of “more than 25 migrants” then gathered around his car, so he hightailed it back to his restaurant with several of the men chasing him on mopeds and e-bikes.

Once back at BurgerIM, Alwawi said the men continued to cause chaos on the street, breaking his car windows. He locked himself inside the restaurant with his employee, Timur Eshankulov — who corroborated that part of Alwawi’s story — and called police.

When cops came and put Alwawi in handcuffs, he said he couldn’t believe it.

Alwawi said he came to the U.S. on a student visa, also seeking the American dream. Besides the restaurant, he said he also owns a beauty supply store.

“This system has to get fixed. These people from there, they have to find a solution for them,” he said. “You send them back or you go give them documents … to start work like American.”

While Alwawi’s American dream is now in jeopardy, the incident could help to kickstart that dream for his two alleged victims. Lozano Bracho and the other man, named in the complaint as Jhonaker Gil, could now be eligible for a U-Visa– which can be awarded to immigrants who’ve been victims of certain serious crimes.

Camille Mackler, Executive Director of Immigrant Arc, a legal services group, said attempted murder could be a qualifying crime, but that district attorneys usually won’t sign off on a U-Visa until a criminal case concludes.

“Murder is definitely a qualifying crime, as is manslaughter, assault… I suppose a case could probably be made,” Mackler said.

The migrants would also have to show that they suffered “significant harm” in the attack, and would have to cooperate with law enforcement to be eligible.

Alwawi’s alleged attack comes at a time of simmering tensions in New York City over the arrival of an estimated 110,000 migrants over the past year. Protests over migrant shelters have become a routine occurrence throughout the five boroughs and Mayor Eric Adams recently said the influx will “destroy” the city.

Many of the protesters, according to interviews with Gothamist, are immigrants themselves who have voiced resentment over the services and resources afforded to the newcomers.

U.S. Federal law prohibits migrants from applying for work permits until six months after filing an asylum claim, but the recent influx has put pressure on the government to change the rule, while city and state leaders explore ways to allow permits on the local level.

It could still take years for Gil or Lozano Bracho to be eligible for the U-Visa’s perks, which include legal status in the U.S., an ability to get a work permit and social security.

With no car and his license suspended, Alwawi said he doesn’t know who will take his children to school in the morning. He said he plans to go back to his restaurant, but is fearful.

“You don’t know their background and they come in and you guys put these people in the area where I live, where I make money to feed my kids,” Alwawi said. “And after that, you come and you lock me up and you tell me … you have case attempted murder.”