Montpelier, VT – A Vermont state police trooper who pursued and pulled over a speeding New York City rabbi and ordered him at gunpoint to lie on the ground and then with other police handcuffed the rabbi’s family has been cleared of wrongdoing.
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State police and the Department of Public Safety commissioner performed an investigation of the nighttime traffic stop and found “there was no evidence from the investigation to suggest his actions were based on any type of bias or profiling,” according to a statement they issued Friday.
The investigation found it was so dark the trooper couldn’t see details of the vehicle’s occupants before trying to pull it over.
Trooper Justin Thompson clocked a vehicle behind him going at 83 mph (134 kph) in a 65 mph (105 kph) zone on Interstate 91 in Thetford on Aug. 8, the investigation said. Thompson pulled over and put on his lights. Once the vehicle passed he tried to pull it over with his lights and siren, but the driver failed to stop for 4.5 miles.
After the car pulled over, police dashboard video released Friday shows, the trooper shouted from his cruiser for driver Berl Fink to get out and walk backward with his hands up. The trooper, who was holding a gun, ordered Fink to lie on the ground.
Thompson decided to initiate a “high-risk motor vehicle stop” because he was in a rural area late at night with no immediate backup nearby, the vehicle had failed to stop, the occupants’ actions were suspicious and the vehicle had been speeding, the investigation said.
In such a stop, officers are trained to order the driver and passengers out of the vehicle and to have their guns drawn, the statement said.
During the stop, a passenger, Fink’s son, tried to get out of the vehicle, and Thompson ordered him to stay inside. Once backup police arrived, Fink’s son was ordered out of the vehicle and was told to walk backward but failed to do so and walked to a guardrail. He was pushed against the car and was handcuffed.
Two other passengers, Fink’s wife, Sarah Fink, and another child, also were handcuffed.
Sarah Fink told the New York Post the ordeal was “traumatizing.”
“I tell you, there was brutality,” she said. “He was pointing guns.”
Berl Fink told the trooper he didn’t realize he was speeding. He said once he suspected he was being pulled over he was looking for a safe place to pull off the interstate.
Fink, who’s from Brooklyn, was cited for attempting to elude police. He’s scheduled for a court appearance on Oct. 18.
Not happy with police explanation for traumatizing a family. Crazy!
I am a big fan of police cameras.
That’s obvious. Even from the woman’s own account they yelled at him to exit at gunpoint before they saw who it was. Yeah you’re driving like you’re in Boro park and ignore a cops lights and sirens you get pulled over and treated with suspension. No one cares if you’re a Hasidic Jew. Great job by this family for dropping the race card and great job to al hikind for picking up this nonissue and making us all bad.
Why did they have to handcuff the wife and daughter? The whole thing stinks!
look at the bright side….if this yid was black the cop would have shot him…This chilul Hashem causing shmuck should count his blessings & stop being a qvetch!
He moved over for a flashing police car. NYS Law requires that you move over.
Man is speeding, does not stop.
It is night and policeman is alone.
Car finally stops.
Policeman does not know who is in the car.
Policeman approaches car with drawn weapon to protect himself.
What should he have done differently?
Somebody pointing a gun at you in a dark area does not make you think straight.
I understand not walking up to the car. But this was over kill. When he saw the husband it was not necessary to handcuff the wife etc. If it was a black guy and he was forced to the ground there would be a protest next day
Just regular police protocol. Lovely.
Maybe the stop prevented a bad accident….. 83 mph is not safe on a dark road. being handcuffed isn’t fun, but maybe the cop didn’t know we are non violent.
Cops doing their job, unlike in Brooklyn, where people get away with dangerous traffic violations every day!
Bottom line is once you drive 4 miles with lights and sirens blaring, and not stopping then you become a very big suspect! It’s unfortunate but what do you expect the cops to do in a situation like this?
First, as a woman we are taught do not stop on a dark road, but call 911 & let them know you are being asked to pull over & ask the operator to verify it’s a police officer & not an ill seeker/doer. Second, there was absolutely no reason to handcuff a child passenger in a driving incident.
B”H
Thank G-d no one was CH”VS shot or tased.
Police should not pull over in such dark areas that they feel need to draw guns and threaten family.
Note to everyone if you are not pulling over because it’s not safe you should put on 4 way flasher/hazard to show officer you acknowledge he us trying to pull you over and you should call 911 to let them know. The 911 dispatcher will radio trooper so he knows whats going on.
I believe 100% Finks felt not safe to pull over on side of rode with ditch sloping down. You can see on the video they pulled over when got to area w guardrail.
As far as protocol the Rabbi was forced to lie down on ground in the rain. Really not necessary.
This was straight protocol, there are cops killed every year making stops like this. You just don’t know what your getting yourself into until the person is in cuffs. You noticed the difference in the cops tone/behavior once they were handcuffed, and no they never handcuffed the women once they deemed they were no threat. Enough using the anti-Semite card!
I am not familiar with the latest gadgets, but the language of the article makes it sound like the police car was driving in front of the civilian vehicle and this moving police car was clocking the car behind it at 83 mph? Wouldn’t that mean that the civilian vehicle would crash right into the police car unless the police car itself was going at least 83 mph?
4.5 miles?!?! Back in the day the police would of issued a beat down on anyone who did this. No excessive force, police officer would be stupid to approach without gun drawn. This is protocol taught in all academies.
I was disgusted at the initial reports of this incident; however, I was more disgusted after seeing the dashcam video, and realizing how Rabbi Beryl Fink falsely reported this story, and falsely raised the issue of ethnic bias, when it never existed. First of all, Fink and his family claimed that he was doing between 55-65 mph. The state trooper (according to communications on his two way radio from the video), stated that he was clocked with radar, at 83 mph. What meshuganah goes 18 mph over the speed limit, on a two way rural highway, at night? By Fink’s own admission, he stated that he couldn’t see very well at night, and that was why he hesitated to initially pull off to the soft shoulder. I saw the shoulder from the video, and there was adequate room, for him to have initially pulled his car over to the right very quickly, instead of leading the trooper on a 4.5 mile chase. In addition, the trooper was very professional, and treated the Rabbi with courtesy. He was even more respectful than NYPD cops are, when they pull cars over. I’m afraid that the Rabbi brought this incident on himself, and falsely reported anti-semitism, when it never existed. Dov Hikind erred, also.
I watched the video. The Trooper was correct in his actions. When a police car flashes lights at you, YOU DO NOT speed up, you slow down, signal and pull over. And when he told the son to stay in the car, the son ignored him and got out, then, when the Trooper told him to put his hands up (remember the Trooper was alone, on a dark road, will a full car) he DID NOT, he just sauntered to the barrier !!
What is wrong with these people? These laws are to protect us & we want Troopers to stop questionalble drivers and that is exactly what he did.
Chilul Ha’Shem – don’t make this into a bias incident, it is a “STUPIDLY” incident.
This story is interesting from a number of viewpoints. One thing that stood out to me was the way Mr Fink behaved both in terms of not stopping right away and in terms of hesitating when asked his age. This may indicate that he is suffering some early symptoms of dementia that are impacting his decision making and cognition. What also stands out is that although the police clearly acted professionally, there was one major shortcoming. The officer should have had a car that is equipped with a loud speaker as in NYC, which would have allowed the officer to convey clear orders to pull over right away and thus avoiding the whole unpleasant incident. The story also demonstrates the new climate of Hyper Vigilance, Hyper Policing, and Police Militarization, which now elevates small crimes into big crimes with the potential for misunderstanding and police shootings of citizens who are only guilty of a minor traffic offense. We have to be vigilant of the creeping police state tactics that are increasingly eroding liberty and freedom under the guise of public safety.
after viewing the police dash cam video in its entirety ive come to the same conclusion as the officials in vermont this officer did nothing wrong was just following protocol stopping a vehicle with 4 occupants on a deserted road in middle of the night chasing him for 4 miles before him finally pulling over
our knee jerk reaction is to pull out the anti semite card but if we cry wolf too often no one will listen when it actually is anti semitism .
though i am surprised at DOV HIKIND for not doing his homework and viewing the video before demanding an investigation and using the anti semite card. hes been around for awhile and knows that what some view as anti semitism in our community may not have been the intentions of the officers involved as evidenced when watching this video
its mind boggling on the part of the driver who kept driving ignoring the cop
if hes been driving since he’s 17 he should know that ignoring orders of a police officer is like waiving red in front of a bull and will definitely escalate the original call as we all saw on the video
hopefully everyone who saw the video will take a lesson never ever ignore a police officer
In addition to not knowing his age and weight right away, the driver hesitated about getting back into his car, and was lingering outside the driver door. That was not smart, as he could have been struck by a passing car. In fact, just before the video ended, one of the cops can be heard telling the driver to go into the car.
Regarding the loudspeaker suggestion, I think that sirens and flashing lights should suffice. The loudspeaker is only good at close range; however, it might prevent cops from straining their voices.
To #24 - If you’d look at the video again, you will clearly see that both females were also handcuffed. I don’t think that the cop would have acted so aggressively, if that incompetent driver had stopped immediately, as he saw the police car to begin with. Also, he failed to put on his hazard blinking lights; he only left his right directional light on. He had to be nuts to be traveling so fast on a dark, rural, two lane highway at night. It was not a four lane interstate highway.
I blame VIN and Dov Hikind for sensationalizing this story, before all of the facts were out.
Officer did nothing wrong (technically) but is an idiot for not realizing that the guy was looking for a safe place to pull over.
I think Rabbi Fink should consider taking an attorney with him to court. No doubt, the judge will have heard about the anti-semitism allegation and it can’t go down well for him inasmuch as the video shows he was speeding and the officers were following protocol. Counsel will be able to explain how frightened the family was, the dilemma they faced in finding a safe place to stop etc. Rabbi Fink should also apologize to the court and put this unfortunate incident behind them.