Brooklyn, NY – The NYPD officer who took his own life on Friday afternoon had reportedly taken steps to distance himself from some members of Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community according to a New York Post report.
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As previously reported on VIN News (http://goo.gl/p8rGvu), Inspector Michael Ameri, a 23 year veteran of the NYPD who had been questioned several times in connection with federal corruption probe, shot himself in the head on Friday afternoon outside a Long Island golf course.
A source said that Ameri had expressed concern about the investigation and had severed before passover his relationship with some members in the Orthodox Jewish community including Alex Shaya Lichtenstein who was arrested in April for bribing police officers in order to get gun permits which he then resold for profit.
Ameri told high-ranking officers in the highway division to stay away from Lichtenstein.
“He actually told a high ranking officer in the highway division to stay away from Shaya, cut off all communication,” said the source.
Ameri, commanding officer of the NYPD’s Highway Patrol, reportedly felt that his job was in danger as federal investigators probed whether police provided unauthorized escorts for members of the Orthodox Jewish community.
A Thursday raid by NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau, with officers seizing boxes of records relating to police escorts, may have pushed Ameri over the edge, according to a source.
“He was very distraught by the visit,” said the source. “He felt his career was in jeopardy and he couldn’t deal with the stress and not knowing when everything was coming to a head.”
Roy Richter, head of Ameri’s police union, called him on Thursday and tried to reassure him, telling him that IAB seemed to be focused on Lieutenant Michael Fargo, a close friend of Ameri’s who had just submitted his retirement papers.
“I told him that he was not in any type of employment jeopardy,” said Richter. “There was always that fear and concern and that worry. I thought I put those fears and concerns to rest. It’s obvious I didn’t.”
Hours after Ameri’s death, Fargo, who had just been cleared for retirement, was asked to surrender his gun for his own safety and was placed on modified duty.
Our holiest in NY have replaced the void left by the Italian mob two decades ago. How many upstate counties have Hassidic related corruption scandals involving local governments that the Feds are investigating? According to media reports, politicians in Albany are expecting indictments too.
You read Daily News or NY Post comments about these stories and all you see are angry New Yorkers who have a perception that laws never applied to Jews. These corruption scandals are fueling antisemitism like never before. And the atmosphere is unusually toxic.
Now Jewish communities in the city have to bear antisemitism for actions of a minority Hassidic community that don’t even consider other Jews as authentic enough.
When, when will we Jews learn to go straight and stay away from all these impropriety’s that always comes back to haunt us?? When will we understand that when one of us do wrong it ultimately reflects on the entire community? There are so many scandals surfacing that I can understand if the gentiles feel that all Jews and especially the orthodox are corrupt thru and thru, we just always manage to dig our own graves
NYC cops were paid to transport the new square rabbi while they were supposed to be on duty in nyc. What a scandal we cause.
When, when will we Jews learn to go straight and stay away from all these impropriety’s that always comes back to haunt us?? When will we understand that when one of us do wrong it ultimately reflects on the entire community? There are so many scandals surfacing that I can understand if the gentiles feel that all Jews and especially the orthodox are corrupt thru and thru, we just always manage to dig our own graves
#3, please understand, rebbes need to get to the airport so they can fly to Israel and denounce Zionism. Clearly it is worth blowing some red lights and it requires buying out first class and taking along 3000 of their closest followers.
Hashem save us from ourselves.
If people would get normal educations, they would get normal jobs and would not have to resort to these shtiklach.
most of your comments seems like its coming from people who are uncomfortable in their own skin. noone represents an entire community and you all know that. why are you talking about a general klol????
Wow nice thick piece of Lashon Hara, not only in article but some comments are priceless. Some one ought to be moderating these.
Unfortunately, certain Hasidic groups have a real pall of dishonesty about them. They just always seem to be hustling and trying one scam after another. It is embarassing. But, if you have no education and do not want to “sully” yourself with working in the greater velt, than crime is what you turn to to support yourself abd your community. I would not disagree that many of these communities are really starting to look like hotbeds of organized crime. I guarantee you that the feds and other authorities will start cracking down on them hard. What a great opportunity to put Jews in jail they will think.
Official permission from whom??? From the guys who are now committing suicide. They have no business giving these favors, and while it was filthy enough when we believed they were doing it for political reasons, now it turns out it was for jewels, planes and prostitutes. Is that a suitable way to get these unecessary favors?