Northeast
Miami-Dade, Fla. – Some car owners said they may have been targeted because
of their religious beliefs after they found as many as 23 vehicles vandalized
near three synagogues in Northeast Miami-Dade, Saturday morning.
The
next day, victim Jennifer Lehrfeld showed 7News the damage to her vehicle.
“There’s a lot of glass inside the door,” she said as she opened the passenger
side door.
Moments
later, the sound of glass rang out as Lehrfeld closed the door. “That’s like
impossible to get out,” she said. “Even the cost of replacing the glass is not
such a big deal, but they’ve got to take the whole door apart.”
Shattered
glass remained scattered near the intersection of Northeast 10th Avenue and
172nd Street, an area that borders North Miami Beach. “Late Friday night or
early Saturday morning, when we came to temple in the morning, we walked, and
we noticed that almost all the cars that are parked before the temples, from
171st to 176th [streets], had been smashed in,” said Lehrfeld.
Her
father-in-law, the rabbi at Young Israel of Greater Miami, said the person or
people responsible for the vandalism likely knew the vehicles would remain parked
during the Sabbath. “I know that people park their cars for a period of over 24
hours, and that’s why they may have actually targeted our community,” said
Rabbi David Lehrfeld.
The
incident took place in an area where many synagogues are located. Observant
Jews do not drive on their Sabbath, and the majority of the vehicles that were
targeted were parked outside of synagogues.
Rabbi
Lehrfeld told 7News at least 15 of the cars that were vandalized were parked
outside of Young Israel. “They went all the way down the block,” he said.
When
asked if he’d ever seen anything like this, Rabbi Lehrfeld replied, “Never
before. There happens to be three synagogues in the area.”
People
walking out of the house of worship saw car after car with at least one of
their windows broken. “My rear driver window was smashed in, glass everywhere,”
said Josh Fox.
“They completely trashed our cars,” said
Abigail Mordechai.
In
many of the cases, however, nothing was taken, just peace of mind.
It
does not appear that surveillance video captured the perpetrators, but area
residents are hoping that they’re caught. “They’re hoping and they’re praying
that the Good Lord is watching over them,” said Rabbi Lehrfeld, “and for this
to happen to them, it doesn’t shake their faith, obviously not, but it’s
certainly a blow to their inward compassion.”
Miami-Dade
Police and North Miami Beach Police are investigating. They will continue to
review surveillance video from nearby properties.
If
you have any information that could help investigators, call Miami-Dade Crime
Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you
may be eligible for a $1,000 reward.
