Brooklyn 12 year old attacks 80 year old woman
© Gary Hershorn / Reuters/REUTERSA pre-teen terror in Brooklyn attacked an 80-year-old woman three different times — hitting her over the head with a metal rod, setting her jacket on fire with a lighter and punching her in the face, police sources said.
A preteen's reign of terror in a Brooklyn neighborhood — that includes targeting and menacing senior citizens — is over, police sources said.

A 12-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday for beating an 80-year-old woman and trying to light her on fire, authorities said.

Sources described the child as troubled. He has run away from home twice and been assaulted once.

"This kid is a real piece of work," one source said. "He's like a terror in that community."

Police learned of the attacks on the octogenarian Saturday night.

Earlier that day, at about 5 p.m., she was cleaning the front yard of her home, on W. Seventh St. in Gravesend, when the boy approached, sources said.

The kid said something, but the woman doesn't understand English.

Then, without warning, he allegedly socked her in the face, giving her a black eye, sources said.

The woman told police the youth attacked her in front of her house on two prior occasions.

On May 16, he allegedly used a lighter to set the woman's jacket on fire.

The senior's jacket was singed, but she was otherwise unharmed. A source said she gave police the burnt garment.

In the other menacing episode last week, the boy allegedly slammed her over the head with a metal rod.

The victim could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Her grandson answered her door and said only, "She's fine," before going back in the house.

While looking for witnesses after the Saturday attack, police learned of a burglary at Zheng China Kitchen, a restaurant around the corner from the woman's home.

The 12-year-old — whose name is being withheld because of his age — was caught on camera stealing the tips jar not long after the assault, sources said.

Ming Lu, 37, a restaurant worker, said the boy showed up at the restaurant about a month ago and said he was hungry, so he and his wife gave the child chicken and fried rice.

Since then, he has returned again and again, spitting in the shop, flashing his middle finger, cursing and asking people for money.

Lu said he has also seen the preteen jump in front of several senior citizens on the street.

"He likes to scare them," Lu said. "He thinks it's funny."

Detectives believe the boy also pulled a string of gunpoint robberies last year in Bensonhurst and Coney Island.

But the source said at least some of the victims can't identify him.

"He may have covered his face, or they know him and fear him," the source said. "He's apparently menacing."

The boy is charged with felony assault, criminal mischief and weapons possession.

Because of his age, his criminal case will be handled in Family Court.