Felony Charges Dropped Against Baltimore Shomrim
A Baltimore prosecutor has dismissed a felony assault charge against a member of a Jewish neighborhood watch group who was accused of striking a black teenager in November.
After appearing at a preliminary hearing Thursday morning in district court, Eliyahu Eliezer Werdesheim, 23, still faces misdemeanor charges. But the state’s attorney’s office did not pursue the most serious charge against the community college student, who is also a former Israeli special-forces soldier.
Werdesheim no longer participates in Shomrim, whose Orthodox Jewish members patrol Northwest Baltimore, said his attorney Andrew I. Alperstein.
More background from Liz’s story:
The incident occurred Nov. 19, when Werdesheim approached the victim while he was standing in the 3300 block of Fallstaff Road.
According to charging documents, the victim told police another man threw him to the ground while Werdesheim struck him in the head with his radio and shouted “You wanna [expletive] with us, you don’t belong around here, get outta here!”
But Alperstein has said that the incident was self-defense.
The case sparked discussions about tension between the black and Jewish community, with some black leaders calling for the group to be disbanded.
Attorney J. Wyndal Gordon, who represents the victim, said he was shocked but not surprised by the news of the dropped charges.
the boss
may g-d bless him he will victorious
Dejavue
This story is reminiscent of the Shomrim Six case right here in Brooklyn. They were charged as a group – gang – with felony assault, but we all knew that the case held no water.
Same here, they are overreaching, and fortunately in that case Shomrim does not have the Shmira who are helping the prosecution and trying to shut Shomrim down!