New Square - A 22-year-old man surrendered Tuesday to face charges he set a car belonging to a New Square dissident ablaze during a drunken Purim celebration.
Aron Fromowitz, neatly dressed in black with a trimmed beard, pleaded not guilty through his attorney to charges of third-degree arson and second-degree criminal mischief, both felonies.
Fromowitz is accused of setting fire to a car owned by Aron Rottenberg, who was himself set on fire last year by another young follower of New Square's grand rebbe for refusing to pray in the Hasidic Jewish village.
Fromowitz, his hands folded behind his back, stood before Ramapo Town Justice Alan Simon for the short session starting at 10:13 a.m., after arriving in court at 10 a.m., the time promised by his attorney, Gerard Damiani.
After court, Ramapo police took Fromowitz for fingerprints and photographs. Fromowitz, accompanied by his father, posted $5,000 bail set by Simon, who also signed orders of protection forbidding him from going near Rottenberg's home on Truman Avenue or Rottenberg's mother's home on Jefferson Avenue.
On March 26, Fromowitz is due in New Square Village Court, where the case will continue pending a grand jury indictment or a negotiated plea with the Rockland County District Attorney's Office. Prosecutor Jason Rosenwasser told Simon that time was needed to investigate the case
The case was moved to New Square because the arson occurred in the village and Simon noted that, as a town justice, his jurisdiction over village crimes doesn't extend beyond arraignment.
Damiani said after court that he expects to talk with the District Attorney's Office after he gets a handle on the details of the case. He said the Fromowitz family just hired him.
The top arson count carries a sentence ranging from probation to 15 years in prison.
"I don't know what occurred yet and I don't know yet what the DA's position is," Damiani said. "I am sure there will be some discussions."
Fromowitz, who works for the grand rebbe's kitchen and once prayed with Rottenberg, is accused of setting fire to the rear bumper of Rottenberg's 2003 Mazda Protege on Thursday night.
Rottenberg, 44, a plumber who still is recovering from third-degree burns from a May attack, told police and family that Fromowitz had been drinking and celebrating the Jewish festival of Purim when he visited the Jefferson Avenue house of his mother.
Rottenberg counseled Fromowitz about the dangers of drinking when the younger man became upset and stormed from the house, cursing Rottenberg with his middle finger, police and family members said.
Fromowitz came back into the house to make additional comments, only to leave again. Flames erupted on the rear of Rottenberg's car minutes later.
The car was parked outside the house, across from the community's stone and stained-glassed synagogue, where Grand Rebbe David Twersky prays and demands all his followers attend services. Twersky is the dynastic leader of the worldwide sect, which has its origins in the 1700s near in the community of Old Square near Chernobyl in Ukraine.
David Fromowitz, 34, born and raised in the village, considered himself a model citizen, having donated more than $100,000 to the grand rebbe and community members over the years. His family has lived in the village more than 50 years.
Shaul Spitzer, 18, ignited a homemade incendiary device when confronted by Rottenberg after tossing a similar one onto the family's back porch. Spitzer, who was a butler lived in Twersky's house, has pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and faces up to 10 years in state prison when sentenced April 17.
Rottenberg settled a lawsuit against Twersky and Spitzer for $2 million, with promises from the religious leadership that he and his family would be left in peace and allowed to sell their home and leave the community.
The New Square rabbinical court condemned the arson to Rottenberg's car.
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5 сен 2024
