American-Jewish woman of Brooklyn who threw coffee at dad in Palestinian scarf surrenders to face hate crime charges

Hadasa Karavanibozak, 48, is facing hate crime assault, reckless endangerment and harassment charges 

By Edward Era Barbacena 

A woman accused of throwing a cop of hot coffee at a man wearing a Palestinian scarf and his toddler son at a Brooklyn playground surrendered to authorities Tuesday, police said.

Hadasa Karavanibozak, 48, is facing hate crime assault, reckless endangerment and harassment charges for the Nov. 7 clash at Edmonds Playground on DeKalb Ave. in Fort Greene, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.

Karavanibozak surrendered after her entire block on Grand Army Plaza was peppered with wanted fliers with her image on it, Kenny said.

“The whole block had her picture. Everyone knew who she was,” Kenny said. “The whole neighborhood was blanketed with her picture.”

Victim Ashish Prashar, 40, recorded the hateful 10:15 a.m. confrontation.

As Prashar watched his 18-month-old son play with another boy, Karavanibozak approached him, Prashar told the Daily News earlier this month.

“She said, ‘Do you support Hamas? Do you know they are terrorists?’ ” Prashar recalled.

Pashar was born and raised in London and is of Indian descent. He was wearing a keffiyeh, a headscarf traditionally worn by Palestinian men.

“Then she said my people are all dogs. … ‘Do you know your people burn babies? … I hope someone burns your baby in an oven,'” Prashar recounted.

When Prashar took out his phone to record the incident, the woman flew off the handle.

The man picked up his son and she charged toward them, first throwing her phone toward them and then a cup of hot coffee.

Neither Prashar nor his son were injured in the attack.

Karavanibozak, who told Prashar she is an American Jew and that “your people don’t belong here,” is a neighborhood local, police told Prashar.

“[She] is not a representation of the Jewish community,” Prashar said.

Karavanibozak is a nanny and had a child he was caring for with her, Kenny said.

Her arraignment is pending in Brooklyn Criminal Court.