Queens, NY – At approximately 1:30am on September 15, 2010, two dark males knocked on the door to the YZA dormitory on Mott Avenue claiming that they needed to use the phone. They were having “car trouble”, they said.
One of the bochurim answered the door, and the two males forced their way in to the house. They ordered everyone upstairs to the bedrooms and frisked everyone at gunpoint. Those who were sleeping were awoken by the crooks and forced to stand with the others while they went through pockets and dresser drawers. Another bochur went unnoticed by the duo because he was in the bathroom at the time.
A car, a laptop, a number of cellphones and miscellaneous electronics were stolen. They stuffed pairs of earbuds into their pockets. About three hundred dollars cash was also taken.
The police were called soon after the burglars drove off in a grey Nissan Sentra [NY Plate #EKT3436] which belongs to a bochur from the yeshiva. The eight bochurim who were in the dorm at the time spoke with investigators. If anyone sees the car, call 911.
At the time of this writing the dorm is closed off as police await the evidence collection team. Nobody is allowed in. Tefilin were removed so that they could be used for shachris. The victims, who wish to remain anonymous, are sleeping in other houses for the night.
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(Yehuda Drudgestein – YWN)
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9 Responses
HANG THE CROOKS!
I heard one of the boys who was held up was also held up in the robbery in lakewood about 5 months ago
Find the crooks immediately and prosecute to the nth degree.
Robbing a yeshiva? These crooks are really stupid. Why would yeshiva bochrim have any significant amounts of cash. If you have to go to jail rob a bank! Tipshim!!
Maybe this will lead yeshivas to actually have security. Maybe locks that lock, security guards, official policies about opening the door when strangers are there, how about not opening the door to strangers at 1:30 AM, stupid.
Also, what where they doing up at 1:30. How are they supposed to be awake for learning the next day if they are up to all hours of the morning.
Why can’t they be up; Maybe learning, having a soda or
going to the bathroom. I understand the question if they were walking the street but they were in their dorm
this is so sad to read! Poor boys! I wish those crooks would all just leave the poor yeshiva bochurim alone! And to the boys- stay safe!
#5, you make a valid point regarding the need to beef up security, however, you then go on to question what some of the bochrim were doing up at 1:30 and you assume that “they are up to all hours of the morning.”
How about being dan l’kaf z’chus (judging them favorably), and assuming instead that they were on their way to bed at that time? If shacharis starts at 7:30 AM or even 8:00 AM, that would give them close to six hours sleep, which is fine. As to what they were doing? Again, judge favorably and assume they are masmidim and were learning.
We should all judge others favorably, especially now just before Yom Kippur, which will help us be to receive a favorable judgement!
hello there judges, i was actually the one who had the gun pointed at my neck. yes i opened the door to try to help someone out. was it the right thing to do? in retrospect, no. but you know what they say…hindsight is 20/20, but not for you. Youve never made the wrong decision. So mister torahumada, its easy to say what you would of done had you been there just like everyone else who told me they would have performed ju jitsu to disarm the assailant, but you werent.
however, thank G-d i and my friends are ok with only material losses. so in the end, things worked out ok. it was an experience, albeit a bad one, but nonetheless, something to learn from. so once again thank god no one was hurt. if you have any more questions feel free to email me at EDITED.