OY VEY RABBI, OY VEY!

This rabbi played cops and robbers as a George Zimmerman-style roadway watchman. I doubt that his lawyer’s bipolar excuse will fly.

RESPECTED RABBI CHARGED WITH IMPERSONATING A POLICE OFFICER AFTER PULLING OVER DRIVERS USING A FAKE BADGE AND BERATING THEM FOR GOING TOO SLOWLY
Rabbi Alfredo Borodowski, 49, has been fired from prestigious position at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan after trying to pull three drivers over using a fake badge

By Becky Evans

Mail Online
July 15, 2013

A respected New York City rabbi will appear in court this week accused of impersonating a police officer and pulling over drivers to berate them for going to slowly.

Rabbi Alfredo Borodowski, 49, has been arrested in one case and is being investigated in at least two more.

Authorities say the apparent reason for trying to pull people over was to rage at them for cutting him off or driving too slowly.

The rabbi has been fired from a position at prestigious Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan, one of the world's largest Jewish houses of worship. He also leads a congregation in Larchmont.

He was charged with impersonating a police officer June when he allegedly pulled alongside a woman's car in Mamaroneck, 20 miles north of Manhattan, and flashed a badge while shouting, 'Police. Police. Pull over.'

Borodowski allegedly told investigators: 'That girl was driving too slow and I hate when people do this.' The woman did not pull over and called police.

Richard Clifford, representing the woman, said Borodowski 'just laid on the horn and started screaming at her' as she obeyed a 20-mph limit in a school zone.

He added: 'She was so freaked out with the horn honking and the screaming that she called police immediately. I believe my client was in danger with this guy and if she had gotten out of her car it could have escalated.'

Borodowski denied to police he was trying to impersonate an officer, saying that he was telling the woman only that he would be 'calling the police.'

He had a badge, which read Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Officer 1338, which has been confiscated by police.

Judie Glave, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the bridge and tunnel authority, said the badge is 'totally fake.'

Borodowski's lawyer, Andrew Rubin, acknowledged that the rabbi's behavior has been 'manic' and said he's suffering from bipolar disorder.

The lawyer said the rabbi will plead not guilty in court this week. A previous hearing was postponed because the rabbi was hospitalized.

After Borodowski was arrested a couple contacted police accusing him of trying to pull them over as well.

Peter Moses said he was tailgated by Borodowski on a drive from Scarsdale to White Plains.

He said Borodowski was 'obviously trying to make me go faster' than the 40mph limit but he said he slowed and the driver passed him and then blocked his path.

Mr Moses said: 'He's shouting, "I'm a police officer, pull over" and he's got this little badge that he's waving at us. I told my wife, "That's not a police officer."

'Then he's out of his car and he's screaming, "I can arrest you! I can have you arrested!"

'I said, "Fine, call the police," then he storms back to his car and drives off.'

He added: 'What we want is for the rabbi to get the emotional help he so obviously needs.'

A third driver handed State Police a video of a confrontation in April on Interstate 87 near Yonkers.

The man, who has not been named, claimed that he swerved in front of a driver who then flashed a badge and demanded that he pull over.

'He was holding up this tiny badge, and I knew the guy could no way be a cop in any sense of the word,' the driver told The Journal News.

The three complaints prompted the trustees of Temple Emanu-El to dismiss Borodowski as executive director of the Skirball Center for Jewish Learning 'in the best interests of the Congregation,' said Mark Weisstuch, administrative vice president.

Borodowski was still listed as rabbi on the website for Congregation Sulam Yaakov in Larchmont.

A call to the synagogue there was answered by a man who said, 'No comment. That's his personal life.'