Hasidic Rabbi Pleads Not Guilty In Vermont Police Chase
Image by jta.org
By Ari Feldman October 19, 2017
A Brooklyn rabbi pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges that he led police on a 4-1/2 mile car chase in Vermont, the AP reported. Rabbi Berl Fink was pulled over at gunpoint in August after failing to stop after being suspected of speeding on a remote highway.
Berl was driving his wife and two teenage children at the time. According to the family arresting officer tackled Berl to the ground before handcuffing both children and tackling Berl’s son, who is 16, to the ground and repeatedly frisking him.
Police released video of the arrest in late September.
Police reportedly told the family that they arrested Berl because they suspected him of drunk driving after seeing him weave in the lanes.
In court on Wednesday Berl stated that he and his son felt they were victims of a “terrorist attack.”
According to Berl’s lawyer, “the rabbi doesn’t think he committed any misdeeds.” The lawyer added that Berl was looking for a place to pull over without a guardrail.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
