Saturday, May 01, 2010
Two Brooklyn teens arrested for roughing up rabbi
That's a lot of chutzpah!
A Brooklyn rabbi took a fierce beating from teenage punks after demanding they scram from a yeshiva schoolyard where they were bullying students, police said yesterday.
Several students at the Cheder School in Borough Park told their teacher, Rabbi Mayer Gross, at around 3 p.m. Wednesday that two teens in the school-owned yard playing handball were refusing to let them use the playground, cops said.
"Many times, strangers come in to use the park, so we put up a sign that no one should come -- private property," said an official at the privately run religious academy, who would not give his name.
"Any time someone comes to play, we say over the [loudspeaker], please leave. These two guys wouldn't leave. That's when Rabbi Gross came. They still wouldn't leave, so he took out his camera phone to take their picture. That's when they got angry."
Police said that one of the teens, 16-year-old Justin Rodriguez, of Bensonhurst, shoved Gross.
The other teen, 17-year-old Shreaf Taha, who lives near the school, picked up a bag containing a teddy bear and water gun and whipped it at Gross, striking him on the head and leaving him with a cut, cops said.
"They cut him on his face. His forehead was bleeding," said Avrohom Mitnick, a 10th-grader at the school.
But Rodriguez and Taha -- neither of whom has a criminal record -- said that they were just killing time before Rodriguez had to go to work and that they were the ones who took a beating.
"They said something over the loudspeaker but it was unclear," Rodriguez said. "Next thing I know, the rabbi charged at me. He kicked at me from behind."
Members of a volunteer patrol then joined in, the teens said.
"They were hitting us full force," Rodriguez said, pointing to bruises on his torso, following his arraignment on assault charges yesterday. Taha had welts on his back and neck.
Both were released without bail.
Gross, 36, refused medical attention and declined to comment.
Students said people from the neighborhood often use the school's yard, even though it was on private property.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/rabbi_rough_rumble_LxEtIEMM18NHAkhtVvCekK
A Brooklyn rabbi took a fierce beating from teenage punks after demanding they scram from a yeshiva schoolyard where they were bullying students, police said yesterday.
Several students at the Cheder School in Borough Park told their teacher, Rabbi Mayer Gross, at around 3 p.m. Wednesday that two teens in the school-owned yard playing handball were refusing to let them use the playground, cops said.
"Many times, strangers come in to use the park, so we put up a sign that no one should come -- private property," said an official at the privately run religious academy, who would not give his name.
"Any time someone comes to play, we say over the [loudspeaker], please leave. These two guys wouldn't leave. That's when Rabbi Gross came. They still wouldn't leave, so he took out his camera phone to take their picture. That's when they got angry."
Police said that one of the teens, 16-year-old Justin Rodriguez, of Bensonhurst, shoved Gross.
The other teen, 17-year-old Shreaf Taha, who lives near the school, picked up a bag containing a teddy bear and water gun and whipped it at Gross, striking him on the head and leaving him with a cut, cops said.
"They cut him on his face. His forehead was bleeding," said Avrohom Mitnick, a 10th-grader at the school.
But Rodriguez and Taha -- neither of whom has a criminal record -- said that they were just killing time before Rodriguez had to go to work and that they were the ones who took a beating.
"They said something over the loudspeaker but it was unclear," Rodriguez said. "Next thing I know, the rabbi charged at me. He kicked at me from behind."
Members of a volunteer patrol then joined in, the teens said.
"They were hitting us full force," Rodriguez said, pointing to bruises on his torso, following his arraignment on assault charges yesterday. Taha had welts on his back and neck.
Both were released without bail.
Gross, 36, refused medical attention and declined to comment.
Students said people from the neighborhood often use the school's yard, even though it was on private property.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/rabbi_rough_rumble_LxEtIEMM18NHAkhtVvCekK
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