Rabbi Arrested For Impersonating Cop, Alfredo Borodowski Used Fake Badge To Pull Over Motorists That Drove ‘Too Slow’ [PHOTO]
A New York rabbi is accused of doing something not that kosher.
Drivers in the suburbs north of New York City have told police that Rabbi Alfredo Borodowski has pulled them over by waving his arms, honking his horn and presenting a small badge. His target: Drivers, that cut him off, drove too slowly or didn’t abide by road rules.
“He was holding up this tiny badge, and I knew the guy could no way be a cop in any sense of the word,” a 26-year-old Scarsdale man who has not been identified told the Journal News about his run-in with the respected rabbi. “I was screaming back at the guy, ‘What’re you doing? You’re not a cop!’”
Borodowski, was charged in June for impersonating a police officer after using his Toyota Camry to pull a woman over in Mamaroneck, N.Y., flashed a badge and shouted: "Police! Police! Pull over!" He is currently being investigated in at least two more cases.
"That girl was driving too slow and I hate when people do this," Borodowski told police. The woman’s lawyer said the rabbi shouted at her, accusing the woman of not abiding the 20-mph school zone speed limit, the Associated Press reports.
Authorities confiscated the badge that read "Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Officer 1338" which was called "totally fake" by Judie Glave, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said.
Peter Moses, another motorist who was confronted by the rabbi, said he was pulled over while driving from Scarsdale to White Plains. Moses said the rabbi was tailgating him, pressuring him to go faster than the 40-mph speed limit.
"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,"' Moses told AP.
"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."
The 49-year-old rabbi from Congregation Sulam Yaakov in Larchmont, N.Y., is also an executive director for a Jewish learning center in Manhattan. His wife, Shira Leibowitz, is the lower school principal at the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester, according to the Journal News.
One driver took a cell phone video of the Borodowski pulling him over on Interstate 87 near Yonkers. Police have yet to release the footage but a still image shows the rabbi flashing a small silver badge in a case.
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