The Ramapo Police Department’s Investigations Division has announced the arrest of four teenagers following two separate incidents involving anti-Semitic behavior over the past two weekends.
On Friday, April 19, 2024, at approximately 9 p.m., a 17-year-old driver was operating a vehicle on Cragmere Road in Ramapo when the 17-year-old passenger fired an Orbeez water pellet gun at pedestrians. One individual was struck but was not injured. During the incident, the vehicle’s occupants reportedly shouted anti-Semitic slurs at pedestrians before fleeing the scene.
With assistance from the Chaverim of Rockland’s Surveillance Team, police identified and apprehended the two teenagers. The driver, from Airmont, NY, and the passenger, from Suffern, NY, were charged with aggravated harassment in the second degree as hate crimes.
The following weekend, on Friday, April 26, 2024, at around 9:20 p.m., the same driver, along with three passengers, was involved in another incident on Oxford Drive in Montebello. An 18-year-old passenger threw trash from the vehicle, hitting a pedestrian. Although uninjured, the victim stated that all the vehicle’s occupants shouted anti-Semitic slurs before speeding away.
Upon further investigation, Ramapo detectives charged all four teenagers in the vehicle with hate crimes. The 17-year-old driver, the same individual involved in the previous incident, was charged with reckless endangerment in the second degree (a felony) and aggravated harassment in the second degree. The 17-year-old passenger was charged with aggravated harassment in the second degree. Additionally, an 18-year-old passenger from Airmont and an 18-year-old passenger from Hillburn were both charged with aggravated harassment in the second degree.
The suspects were processed at the Ramapo Police Department and released with appearance tickets due to these crimes not being bail-qualifying offenses. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.