The maniac who randomly attacked a 12-year-old boy on his way to school – beating him with a single crutch – was busted this week, authorities said.
Jamal McIlwain, 28, targeted the unsuspecting kid near the corner of St. Paul’s Place and St. Paul’s Court in Prospect Park South around 7:30 a.m. Nov. 17 – walloping him twice with the crutch and trying to hit him a third time, according to the NYPD and video they released.
McIlwain was picked up Wednesday when a 911 caller reported a “disorderly male” in front of an unspecified high school, cops said.
McIlwain spit on a responding officer, police said.
Upon arrest, cops recognized him as the suspect in the crutch attack, authorities said.
He was charged with assault, acting in a manner injurious to a child and menacing, cops said.
Authorities say McIlwain picked the crutch up off the ground, possibly from a pile of trash, and was hanging out mid-block before he pounced on the unsuspecting kid.
He mumbled something incomprehensible during the unprovoked Nov. 17 attack, cops said.
The fiend calmly walked off after the assault, ditching the crutch on the sidewalk as he headed north on St. Paul’s Place.
He had been heading to the Church Avenue B and Q train station at the time of the attack.
“It’s weird how he ran across the street just to hit me,” the youngster, who was not identified, told WPIX Wednesday. “When he hit me, it took me a few seconds to process what was going on. I tried to block it with this arm and ran.”
The boy suffered minor head injuries and was taken to a local urgent care in stable condition.
“I’m feeling better than a few days ago when I got hit. The eye used to be swollen very much. I didn’t do anything to him, so how come he has a grudge against me?”