The 52-year-old New Brunswick man arrested in a window-smashing spree at Jewish businesses and institutions in Highland Park and New Brunswick is himself Jewish.

Local Jewish leaders who knew him describe Richard Green of Bayard Street as a “troubled and mentally ill” person known to staff and students on or near the Rutgers University campus.

Green was charged with numerous counts of bias intimidation and criminal mischief by Highland Park, New Brunswick, and Rutgers University police departments resulting from the incidents, which took place Nov. 27-30.

News of the shattered windows was reported nationally, where it was referred to in some publications and blogs as “Kristallnacht in New Jersey.”

Windows were smashed at a co-op that sells kosher food, three kosher restaurants, a Jewish-owned hardware store, and two Judaica shops.

Green was arrested on George Street in New Brunswick at 3 p.m. on Nov. 30, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan. Because of its apparent anti-Semitic nature, the investigation has been handled by the prosecutor’s office, which was in contact with the targeted institutions and the Anti-Defamation League.

The ADL’s NJ regional chair, Lawrence Cooper, called the incidents “shocking crimes” and “appalling.”

Authorities did not disclose where Green was being held. The Middlesex County Jail confirmed to NJJN on Dec. 5 he had never been there.

READ MORE: NJJN