Boy, 7, Violently Attacked By Stranger In Kew Gardens: Reports

KEW GARDENS, QUEENS — A seven-year-old boy was critically injured after a stranger picked him up and slammed him to the ground in Kew Gardens Thursday afternoon, news reports say.

The boy was sitting on his grandfather's porch by Metropolitan Avenue and 123rd Street waiting for a pizza delivery about 4:15 p.m. when a homeless man walked up to him and attacked him, CBS New York reported.

First responders rushed the boy to Jamaica Hospital, where he is in critical but stable condition, according to NBC New York.

The boy, who was visiting from East Meadow on Long Island, suffered serious head injuries including brain hemorrhaging, news reports say.

His grandfather, Naftali Portnoy, told reporters that the boy's attacker had been bothering other people on the block that day and had claimed to be bipolar.

Police arrested 35-year-old Laurance Gendreau on assault and harassment charges for the attack, according to CBS New York. He was taken to Jamaica Hospital for a mental evaluation as police continue to investigate.