Law enforcement apprehended a man near Middletown, N.Y., in the Hudson Valley, who has been accused of swerving his car in front of Jewish men as he yelled bigoted obscenities.
New York State Police arrested Joseph E. VanBlarcom, 20, on Tuesday on charges of a Class C felony for reckless endangerment as a hate crime and the misdemeanor of aggravated harassment in the second degree.
On Monday, law enforcement alleged that VanBlarcom threw objects and recklessly swerved his car at three Jewish men while yelling hateful, explicit statements. Police responded to the crime from reports by the Spinka Shul on Main Street in the village of Fleischmanns (population 260 in 2022) near Middletown, about two hours north of the state capital of Albany.
“I believe the court that will be handling the matter is in the town of Middletown,” Trooper Aga Tinker, the Troop C public information officer, told JNS.
