Religious rite arrest
Nab Hasid for refusing to get off street at procession
Cops busted a Hasidic man for allegedly refusing to get off the street during a religious procession in Brooklyn and then resisting arrest.
The police were trying to get a group of Hasidim off the street about 6 p.m. on Sunday on 51st St. between 16th and 17th Aves. in Borough Park during a Hachnosas Sefer Torah, a procession accompanying a new Torah scroll to the Dzebo Bais Hamedrash temple on 51st St. near 15th Ave.
There was no permit for the event, and as cops moved to get people off the street, Joel Herskovitz, 38, of Brooklyn, initially refused to get on the sidewalk.
Video of the incident shows him executing a spin move and walking away from an officer. As Herskovitz continues to walk in the middle of the street, the cop runs after him and then tries to get Herskovitz to put his hands behind his back to cuff him.
Other cops join in as people in the crowd run over and yell at the officers, the video shows.
“Stop resisting,” an exasperated plainclothes officer says on the video. “You’re being put under arrest. Put your hands behind your back.”
Herskovitz continues to refuse to put his hands behind his back, then suddenly starts yelling as if in pain as officers try to force him to do it, the video shows.
Some in the angry crowd begin to chant “Nazis!” at the cops, as one man screams, “He didn’t do anything! Shame on you all!”
Herskovitz was brought to the 66th Precinct stationhouse, where he was issued a desk appearance ticket for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
"The individual was taken into custody after he blocked an unmarked (patrol car) by standing in front of the vehicle and refused police orders to move out of the way. While being taken into custody he resisted arrest,” a police spokeswoman said in a statement.
And Assemblyman Dov Hikind wrote on Twitter: “I’m concerned about the arrest of one of our citizens, but let’s not jump to conclusions just yet, I’m urging everyone to exercise restraint, we will get to the bottom of what happened.”