Police make arrest in second case of harassing Kiryas Joel residents
MONROE A young woman has been charged with yelling harassing comments to a group of Hasidic Jews walking along the Millponds last week, a day after Monroe Village Police charged a young Monroe man with drawing a swastika on the same walkway.
Police said the two incidents are indicative of stupid or immature behavior rather than a pattern of anti-Semitic attitudes. Nonetheless, police said they take incidents of harassment like this seriously; hence, the charges.
The latest incident unfolded just after midnight on Thursday, July 26. Thats when a resident of Kiryas Joel came into Police Headquarters on Stage Road to file a complaint.
The man told police that he and some friends were walking around the Millponds when a small red car drove by them, slowed down and then a female passenger in the car shouted: We will kill you, Jews, and your kids.
The car sped away, but the KJ residents were able to give a description of the vehicle; within 24 hours officers were able to identify the car and the passenger who yelled the remark at the men.
An 18-year-old female from Monroe was charged with second-degree harassment, a violation, and released pending a hearing in Monroe Village Court.
The day before, Village Police charged a 19-year-old Monroe man with aggravated harassment, a felony, and making graffiti, a misdemeanor, after police said he used baby oil to draw a swastika on the sidewalk along the Millpond walkway in the center of downtown.
Police learned of that incident just after 11 on Wednesday evening, July 25, when they received reports of the swastika from a group of residents of Kiryas Joel who were walking along the Millponds.
It is commonplace, police added, for people to walk around the lakes in downtown Monroe late at night as a way to keep cool during warmer weather.
- Bob Quinn