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Long Beach police arrested Hunter McElrath, age 23, of Staten Island on Sunday, Aug. 22, and charged him with the vandalism of the Nassau County synagogue in which two Torahs and silver crowns were stolen.
The Chabad of the Beaches in Long Beach was found ransacked, with everything from Jewish prayer clothes to Torahs thrown or broken on the floors, said Rabbi Eli Goodman.
Goodman, who has been on the beach searching for the missing centuries-old Torahs, was still distraught on Monday, saying the synagogue had just undergone a renovation and only reopened on Saturday, Aug. 21., when the vandalism was discovered.
Police Commissioner Ron Walsh said the burglary did not appear to be a hate crime or an antisemitic attack.
McElrath was a person of interest in the burglary after Long Beach officers received several complaints of a naked man and found him naked, wearing a prayer shawl coming out of the water Saturday.
He was arrested for disorderly conduct and released before he was taken to the hospital. He was arrested for the synagogue burglary following his release from the hospital.
Rabbi Goodman had discovered the synagogue ransacked on Saturday night.
"We’re all in shock," Goodman said. "The two missing Torahs are centuries old and have such special many to so many people."
He felt he had a special mission to find them since they were inherited from the synagogue they had merged with.
McElrath did not give a motive to police for breaking into the temple, Walsh said.
He has several addresses around the country and has an extensive criminal history, Walsh added.
Police are still searching for the missing Torahs.
Goodman said the Torahs can cost as much as $70,000, but more than money, he said it was their importance to the synagogue that mattered.
Anyone who may find an item taken from the synagogue or has information is asked to contact the Long Beach Police at 516-765-7320.
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