Boy, 6, suffers head injury after homeless man picks him up, slams him to the ground
NEW YORK - Police say a 6-year-old child has been hospitalized after being attacked by a homeless man on a street in Queens.
It happened in the Kew Gardens neighborhood just before 5 p.m. Thursday.The child was was sitting on the steps of his grandparent's house on Metropolitan Avenue near Lefferts Boulevard when the 35-year-old man walked up to the driveway, picked the boy up and threw him to the ground, said police.
The child struck his head on the pavement. He was taken to Cohen's Children's Medica Center with a head injury.
The grandfather called 911 and chased the man held him until police arrived and took him into custody.
The suspect has a history of metal illness and an arrest for assault in January, reported the NY Post.
There were at least three assaults on children by homeless men in 2019 including an attack on a boy on Manhattan's west side in September.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.