The anti-Semitic graffiti spray-painted in one of the city’s largest Hasidic communities was the work of a former cop, authorities said Sunday.
Michael Setiawan, who quit the NYPD after two years on the job, allegedly went on his hate-fueled rampage in Brooklyn’s Borough Park on Saturday night as his victims were celebrating Sabbath.
He was charged with 19 counts of criminal mischief and aggravated harassment as hate crimes.
Police said he used red spray paint to scrawl, “F–k you Jew,” and “Jews ain’t s–t” on cars, and buildings, including a Jewish school, the B’nos Zion Bobov yeshiva.
Setiawan, 36, had worked at the 69th Precinct in Canarsie until he resigned in 2007.
He was busted Sunday morning at his Queens home after cops tracked him down using surveillance videos that showed his face and the license plate of his car.
After spending some nine hours in the 66th Precinct station house in Brooklyn, Setiawan, looking disheveled in a hooded sweat shirt and jeans, was moved to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation.
“Am I going home?’’ he asked cops who put him in the ambulance.
Asked by a reporter if he’s an anti-Semite, he answered, “No.’’
Ex-colleagues of Setiawan said he suffered from depression and had attempted suicide.
His brother, Erik, a traffic-enforcement agent, killed himself in 2011.
Setiawan’s neighbors in Bellerose said he would lie down on their lawns and start bizarre conversations.
Randhir Singh said neighbors suspected him of scrawling graffiti and of keying cars in the area.
“He’s not well,’’ Singh said.
“I’ve seen him walking his dog and stop suddenly then he would pretend to punch the sky or he would look like he was swatting flies.”
Momana Ahmed said, “I hope he’s charged and kept away from us because he’s crazy if he’s going around keying cars. Right now it’s just harassment, but he could wind up hurting somebody.’’
Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who represents Borough Park, said, “This was not a victimless crime.”
“We have many Holocaust survivors here, many elderly people and children who are frightened by unprovoked hate attacks on their schools and community.
The surveillance video was released yesterday by JPUpdates.com.
Additional reporting by CJ Sullivan