Restaurant owner drove car into men at Brooklyn migrant shelter, prosecutors say

A Brooklyn restaurant owner drove his car into two men early Sunday morning as they sat outside a migrant shelter, according to a criminal complaint charging him with attempted murder.

Hamzeh Alwawi, 42, got into an argument outside the migrant shelter on Hall Street in Clinton Hill around 2:50 a.m., police say. Alwawi then got into his 2021 Lexus and plowed into two men, injuring them both, according to the complaint. He fled the scene and was arrested nearby 10 minutes later, authorities said.

Both victims were back at the shelter recovering Monday morning. Neither had any connection to Alwawi prior to the attack, migrants at the shelter told Gothamist.

Witnesses at the shelter said Alwawi was angry that a man who often delivered food from his nearby restaurant, BurgerIM, swiped some meals earlier that evening. A restaurant employee separately gave Gothamist the same account.

A police spokesperson said the dispute preceding the attack had to do with stolen food, but didn’t provide other details.

Records showed Alwawi posted $30,000 bond after being held on Rikers Island and was released Monday. Police said he had no prior arrests. Calls to his attorney were not returned.

One of the men injured in the attack, Yoandry Lozano Bracho, 28, said he believes the driver wanted to “pulverize” migrants in front of the shelter.

Lozano Bracho, a Venezuelan migrant, spoke to Gothamist Monday morning, laying on his back in front of the shelter with his swollen foot wrapped in a bandage, elevated on a crutch. The men’s shelter has capacity for 2,000 people, making it one of the largest facilities housing migrants in the city.

He recalled sitting outside the shelter early Sunday listening to music “like always” when Alwawi arrived with a metal pipe, yelling about migrants. Someone managed to wrest the pipe away from Alwawi, but that’s when the suspect got in…