7-Year-Old Boy Slammed Head First During Assault By Stranger In New York City

A Long Island child was hospitalized Thursday after a stranger attacked him outside his grandparents’ home in the Queens section of New York City.

The 7-year-old boy was waiting on his grandparents’ porch for a pizza to be delivered when a stranger approached about 4:15 p.m., picked him up and slammed him head first into the ground, New York NBC-affiliate WNBC reported.

The boy was rushed to nearby Jamaica Hospital where he was treated for a head contusion and possible brain hemorrhage.

Following the attack, the boy’s grandfather, Naftali Portnoy, told WNBC he called police and followed the man until officers arrived on the scene. Police arrested the man shortly after. Portnoy told WNBC the suspect appeared emotionally and mentally disturbed.

“I'm bipolar. I wanted to kill the kid,” Portnoy quoted the man as saying. He also said the man had been bothering other people in the neighborhood earlier in the day.

The suspect was identified as Laurence Gendreau, 35, WNBC reported. He was charged with assault, acting in a manner injurious to a child younger than 17 and harassment. Police sources told WNBC Gendreau has four previous arrests on his record.

Gendreau reportedly was taken to a nearby hospital for examination. The police investigation is ongoing.