By Reuvain Borchardt

 

 

A BMG yungerman was arrested last week in what his attorney is describing as a miscommunication at best, with possibly more nefarious motives at play on the part of both the accuser and law enforcement, in a case that raised an outcry throughout the community.

 

The incident occurred last week Thursday, around 3:40 p.m. Rabbi Binyomin Kubani was driving on Route 88 and Park Ave. with his three-year-old—one of his eight children—in his car. The area is known as one where immigrant day laborers stand around looking for work, and Rabbi Kubani was looking for someone to clean another vehicle he had at home. He had left meat in that vehicle over the last Shabbos; it had spoiled, seeped into the seat, and smelled terribly.

 

The previous Pesach, he had asked an immigrant laborer standing around in that area to come to his home and clean; the experience had gone smoothly, and now he was looking for another such worker.

 

(This account of the incident is from The Voice’s interview with Rabbi Kubani’s lawyer, Yosef Jacobovitch. Neither the Lakewood Police Department nor the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office would respond to The Voice’s requests for information on the case. LPD issued a generic statement five days after the incident occurred.)

 

Rabbi Kubani saw a 15-year-old Hispanic boy standing around on a bicycle and motioned him over to his car. (The encounter was captured on surveillance footage, but there’s no audio.) Rabbi Kubani, a Yemeni immigrant who speaks English poorly, asked the kid if he wanted a job cleaning his car.

 

When the kid declined the offer, Rabbi Kubani tried convincing him to take it, saying, “What are you doing anyway?”

 

At one point, the teen pulled out his phone and took a picture of Rabbi Kubani, and Rabbi Kubani drove away.

 

The teen called his mother, and together they went to the police department. In his statement, the teen alleged that Rabbi Kubani had made an obscene gesture that the teen said meant Rabbi Kubani was soliciting him to come into the vehicle.

 

“He had his three-year-old kid in the car, for goodness’ sake,” says Jacobovitch. “And I can’t believe Lakewood PD approved these charges without hearing a statement from Rabbi Kubani.”

 

Rabbi Kubani was arrested at Dr. Shanik’s office, where he had brought some of his kids to see the doctor. He was charged with second-degree luring, a felony that could carry a prison term of five to ten years.

 

 

According to Jacobovitch, “I advised the Lakewood Police Department immediately that Binyomin would like to give a statement. Detective Charles Messer refused to take a statement from Binyomin, insisting, ‘I will not let him muddy the water with his lies.’”

 

Jacobovitch says that across the hundreds of cases he has dealt with in more than a decade of practicing criminal law, he has never seen an instance of police declining to hear a defendant’s statement.

 

As word of the incident spread, well after midnight on Motza’ei Shabbos, a crowd that included the BMG roshei yeshivah Rav Malkiel Kotler, Rav Yerucham Olshin, and Rav Yisroel Neuman gathered outside the Lakewood Municipal Building to say Tehillim and protest Kubani’s incarceration.

 

The next day, with Kubani still incarcerated at the Ocean County jail in Toms River, there was a flurry of activity as outrage in the community grew.

 

A meeting was held in Rav Malkiel’s home that included all the BMG roshei yeshivah as well as officials, including Assemblyman Avi Schnall, Mayor Ray Coles, BMG CEO Rabbi Yosef Heinemann, and Committeemen Meir Lichtenstein and Albert Akerman.

 

 

A statement from BMG signed by Rabbi Heinemann said, “We are shocked and horrified by the travesty and miscarriage of justice that has unfolded. The circumstances of this case reflect a disturbing failure of the system. Beth Medrash Govoha stands firmly and unequivocally behind our student. We are actively engaged in using every resource and tool at our disposal to clear his name and secure his immediate release.”

 

On Sunday, an atzeres tefillah was held in BMG. Mayor Coles attended the atzeres as well, at the invitation of Rav Malkiel.

 

Later Sunday afternoon, people gathered outside the municipal building once again, to say Tehillim and protest.

 

Rav Malkiel and Rabbi Heinemann visited Rabbi Kubani in jail.

 

Early Monday afternoon, Rabbi Kubani was released from jail without bail. (The roughly four days between arrest and release is typical, according to Jacobovitch.)

 

 

With the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, “I’m noticing a tremendous uptick of people in Lakewood without legal status making allegations to qualify for U-visas,” Jacobovitch says. “It’s known within the community that if they’re a victim, they should capitalize on it.” Though the teen’s identity hasn’t been made public, Jacobovitch believes that it’s likely the teen’s mother saw a quick opportunity to try to get legal status.

 

That may explain the teen’s actions, but as to why law enforcement was so quick to accept his claims, Jacobovitch alleges that “there’s bias among some members of the Lakewood Police Department.”

 

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office has not responded to The Voice’s requests for the charging documents, which would outline prosecutors’ specific allegations against Rabbi Kubani.

 

Lakewood Police didn’t respond to multiple requests for information from The Voice, including a request to comment on Jacobovitch’s allegation on Detective Messer and a request to comment on Jacobovitch’s allegation of bias within the department.

 

On Tuesday afternoon, nearly five days after the arrest, Lakewood PD issued its first statement on the case, which read, in full:

 

“The Lakewood Police Department is aware of the public concern and recent media reports regarding a July 3rd incident that has shaken trust within our community.

 

“We recognize the seriousness of these concerns and the importance of maintaining transparency and accountability. While we are limited in what we can share at this time due to an active internal affairs investigation, we want to reassure the public that this matter is being taken with the utmost seriousness and is being investigated thoroughly and objectively in accordance with established protocols.

 

“We ask for the community’s patience as we allow the process to properly unfold. We remain committed to transparency, to accountability, and most importantly, to the trust of those we serve.”

 

As word of Rabbi Kubani’s release spread Monday afternoon, a crowd gathered outside his home on Park and 7th and welcomed him with music and dancing. Among the participants was Rav Yerucham Olshin, who held Rabbi Kubani’s hand as he spoke to the crowd. “We want to thank Hakadosh Baruch Hu for the yeshuah, baruch Hashem,” the rosh yeshivah said. “And I want the oilam to know that I know Reb Binyomin from the day he came to Lakewood. He’s a tzaddik gamur, mamash a lomeid Torah mitoch hadchak.”

 

Rav Yerucham quoted the Maharal who says that those who learn Torah despite difficulties are closest to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He also said that the tzaros that Reb Binyomin had in recent days are “our tzaros; we deserve it” and that Reb Binyomin’s tzaros are mechaper for all of Klal Yisrael.

 

That night, Rabbi Kubani went to the wedding of the children of Moshe Tress and Moshe Gleiberman to thank them for their work on his behalf. The orchestra played “Chasdei Hashem ki lo samnu” as Rabbi Kubani danced with Rav Malkiel and the baalei simchah.

 

In a statement issued following his client’s release, Jacobovitch said, “We remain steadfast in our commitment to proving Rabbi Kubani’s innocence and clearing his name fully.

 

“We are profoundly grateful for the unwavering support of the roshei yeshivah, Rabbi Yosef Heinemann, Rabbi Sruli Burzstyn, Meir Lichtenstein, and Moshe Tress, as well as the entire Lakewood community. Their encouragement and belief in Rabbi Kubani’s integrity have been a source of strength throughout this ordeal.

 

“Together, we will continue to advocate for justice and ensure that the truth comes to light.”

 

Jacobovitch told The Voice that “the injustice that occurred here was that Rabbi Kubani’s due process was violated. Our constitution provides due process for a reason. We really need to question why in this instance those protections weren’t provided.

 

“I suspect that police knew he never would have been arrested if they had taken his statement beforehand.”

 

Jacobovitch filed a motion to dismiss the charges. That motion will likely be heard before Rabbi Kubani’s next scheduled court date of August 18.

—

[email protected]