RAMAPO – Josef Gluck, the man who prevented the machete attack on attendees at the Saturday night, December 28, 2019 Hanukkah gathering from having a worse outcome, was honored on New Year’s Eve day for his bravery.
Gluck threw a coffee table at the man, who then stopped his attack and as he fled, Gluck followed him outside and took down his license plate. A police license plate reader spotted the vehicle in New York City where the suspect, Grafton Thomas, was apprehended.
Gluck was honored for his bravery by Congresswoman Nita Lowey, Ramapo Town Supervisor Michael Specht and David Harris, chief executive of the American Jewish Committee.
“Thank you, Josef,” said Lowey. “Without you, we would have never caught him as quickly as we did.”
Harris paid tribute to Gluck, “who exemplified such heroism in the face of the horrific anti-Semitic attack.”
Before Thomas fled, he had wounded five people at the community gathering at the home of Rabbi Chaim Leibowitz Rottenberg.
Thomas has been charged by federal authorities with five counts of committing a hate crime.
