The 70th Precinct Sees Its First Murder Of The Year

DITMAS PARK and FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN — The NYPD's 70th Precinct, which patrols both Ditmas Park and part of Flatbush, recorded its first murder of the year this week, when on Jan. 25, 53-year-old Omer Fatahelrhman was found beaten to death inside his Ditmas Park home on 18th Street. Osama Osma, 42, reported to be Fatahelrhman's cousin and roommate, was taken into custody that same day, and charged with two counts of murder and two counts of assault.

As BKLYNER reported, Fatahelrhman was a Sudanese immigrant who had a young son in his native country and a new wife in the U.S. Nazzara Ali, who knows both Fatahelrhman and Osman, told the website that Osman had recently "disappeared from our soccer team, disappeared from our mosque. Something changed in him and we don’t know what happened." Citing a police source, BKLYNER also reported that Osman claimed to have attacked Fatahelrhman in self-defense.

From the beginning of this year through Jan. 22, the 70th Precinct recorded 115 major crimes, down 11.3 percent from the same period last year, according to police statistics. Two murders had already been recorded in the 70th during this part of the year in 2016. A total of five murders were committed in the 70th during 2016.

Pictured at top: The Ditmas Park apartment building where Fatahelrhman lived. Image via Google Maps.