Gersh Gofman gives new meaning to the term elder abuse.
The short-tempered 83-year-old Sheepshead Bay resident was arrested Monday after he allegedly attacked an elder — a 99-year-old man who had simply asked him to stop blocking his driveway, police alleged.
Police said that Gofman was taken into custody on charges of assault in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon after allegedly attacking victim Steve Pulwers.
Pulwers, who is nearly blind, was putting out his trash at 2:10 p.m. Monday when he noticed Gofman’s car blocking one of two driveways to his building on Fort Hamilton Parkway near 48th Street, which also houses a doctor’s office.
The 99-year-old, who will reach his centenarian milestone in late March, walked up and told Gofman — who was sitting in the vehicle — to move the car, police said.
After a short exchange of words, Gofman got out of the car and lunged, striking the senior in the face with a steering wheel “Club” he had in his hand, police alleged.
Officials said that the wounded senior suffered a broken nose and broken ribs in the attack. Gofman was arrested a short time later and taken into custody without incident, police said.
Paramedics took the 99-year-old to an area hospital, where he was bandaged up and sent home.
With his doting wife Josefa, 74, at his side, Pulwers, a survivor of Stalin’s forced labor camps, told reporters that the most shocking thing he remembered about the attack was the thought that he was being attacked by another Jew.
Gofman was arraigned late Monday night and sent home on his own recognizance. The case is now in the hands of a grand jury.
