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Lakewooders protest at Police Headquarters


Lakewood protest

Hundreds of members of the Orthodox Jewish community gathered outside police headquarters Monday night to protest what some residents described as police mistreatment of a local rabbi the night before.
Township police said they planned to charge Rabbi Yosef Bursztyn, 62, of Sixth Street, with aggravated assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and obstructing justice. Residents said Bursztyn is the dean of the Mesivta of Lakewood, a Jewish high school.
Police said Bursztyn would be charged because he interfered while Officer Erik Menck was writing Bursztyn's niece — whom Menck had pulled over Sunday night — a warning for tailgating.
Authorities had released Bursztyn on his own recognizance Sunday night without formally charging him, "out of deference to his position and to keep peace in the community" given the large number of protesters who gathered after Sunday night's incident, said Capt. Robert Lawson, the Police Department's public information officer.
Lawson said Bursztyn had agreed to return to headquarters Monday to be charged but did not because he told police he wanted to go to a hospital to get checked out.
The rabbi could not be reached for comment Monday.
Lawson said Menck's handling of the arrest also will be investigated.
On Monday night, members of the mostly male crowd said they gathered on Third Street to show their support for Bursztyn.
"I can't believe that he touched a cop or anything like that," said Shia Klien, who knows Bursztyn. "This is a person who lives his whole entire life for other people."
Michael Greenberg said much of the Jewish community "is frustrated."
"If you know who this rabbi is, it's just unbelievable," he said.
Brutality alleged
Moshe Schwartz said he attended the gathering, which began with a Hebrew prayer, because he is concerned about what he said is escalating police brutality.
"When it reaches the point of rabbis getting involved, it is extreme," he said. "The community is not going to sit by and let this happen."
Rabbi Moshe Zev Weisberg, a prominent Orthodox leader, said the Vaad, an influential council of leaders in the community, will be involved with the issue.
"This is not an incident that involves an individual," Weisberg said. "It's an incident that involves the entire community."
Meir Hertz, director of the Lakewood Housing Authority, said that the community can barely restrain its outrage, and that the incident is not isolated.
He added that he believes police brutality is only a problem with a few officers and said it would be unfair to label them all.
John Stillwell, president of the Lakewood Policemen's Benevolent Association, said he knows of no instances of police brutality against members of the township's Jewish community.
Stillwell joined Menck to give a statement in police headquarters Monday night after the demonstration. Menck declined further comment, on Stillwell's advice.
"As the PBA president, I stand behind everything that Officer Menck did last night," he said. The union does as well, he added. "From the meetings I've had, it appears Officer Menck acted properly."
Stillwell asked that a full investigation be conducted and said there is possible evidence through police investigation and technology that will prove Menck acted properly.
Stillwell said all Lakewood patrol cars are equipped with audio and video recorders that activate when the overhead lights are turned on, but he stopped short of saying the incident was taped.
Earlier Monday, members of the Orthodox community contended that Menck physically abused the rabbi during the incident Sunday night.
"I wasn't at the incident, but I got a phone call shortly afterwards, saying, "Did you hear a cop beat up Rabbi Bursztyn?' " said Moishe Cooper, 20, a Lakewood resident and friend of Bursztyn's son. "I went downtown (Sunday night) to join the others outside the police station. There were a thousand people there, protesting the rabbi's treatment and his arrest. People in the community were in shock."
Lakewood police said several hundred people protested the rabbi's arrest outside police headquarters Sunday night.
Internal affairs probe
As a result of the protests, the internal affairs department is investigating allegations that Menck, 30, who is in his second year on the force, mistreated Bursztyn while arresting him, according to Lawson.
Lawson said that Menck has not been charged and that no one was injured in the incident.
The sequence leading to Bursztyn's arrest began at approximately 10 p.m. Sunday on Forest Avenue near Carey Street, when Menck pulled over a driver to issue her a warning for tailgating, police said.
"The woman Menck pulled over was Rabbi Bursztyn's niece," Lawson said. "While the officer was writing the warning, the rabbi drove by and, recognizing his niece, pulled over to see what was going on."
Lawson said that Bursztyn tried to speak with Menck, who was sitting in his patrol car, and that Menck told him to step back and not interfere.
"The rabbi, however, did not step back but leaned into the car through the window and, apparently, grabbed the officer's shirt, presumably to see his name or badge number," Lawson said.
Menck then got out of the patrol car, and the two men argued, authorities said.
"Officer Menck decided to arrest Bursztyn for assaulting a police officer," Lawson said. "He tried to put the handcuffs on him, but the other man resisted. They struggled, eventually crossing the street onto the opposite sidewalk, where Menck finally subdued Bursztyn."
Lawson said Menck forced the older man to the ground before applying the handcuffs.
Aaron Kay, 23, a Howell resident who works in Lakewood, said he witnessed a portion of the incident.
"I was driving home from work around 10:20 p.m., going along Forest Avenue," Kay said Monday. "I saw the police car on the side of the street. Its door was wide open. I slowed and noticed something on the other side of the street. A policeman was kneeling on another person's back, trying to put handcuffs on him."
Kay said he heard the man, who was lying face down on the ground, call out that he had a heart condition and must not be treated that way.
"A group of people, between five and 10 people, were gathering around to see what was happening," Kay said. "I recognized that the man on the ground was a prominent rabbi. The policeman cuffed him, pulled him up and forced him into the police car."
Word spread quickly, and the crowd gathered outside headquarters, chanting that the rabbi's rights had been abused, authorities said.
Lakewood authorities promised a thorough investigation. Lawson said the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office would be brought into the probe to ensure impartiality.
Executive Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Robert A. Gasser said Monday that his office had not yet received the request.

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