A Flushing man was arrested on Friday, Aug. 2 and booked at the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills for stealing a Sefer Torah from a Far Rockaway Yeshiva in May.
Saul Colon, 37, of Parsons Boulevard, was arraigned Saturday in Queens Criminal Court on a complaint charging him with burglary and other related crimes for breaking into Siach Yitzchok at 1045 Beach 9th Street on May 7 with an accomplice and taking a safe containing the Torah. The accomplice remains at large.
According to the criminal complaint, Colon and his associate are seen on surveillance video entering the religious school and taking a hand truck from an office and using it to take a safe outside where they loaded it into a dark-colored Ford Taurus before driving away. Detective James Essig of the Queens Major Case Squad, and the son of former NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig, who retired last August after a 40-year career, collaborated with detectives from the 101st Precinct in Far Rockaway and members of the Rockaway Nassau Safety Patrol (RNSP) to recover the stolen Torah.
During the investigation, Det. Essig spoke with Colon, who admitted he opened the safe and when it did not contain cash he left it in a grassy area along Jewel Avenue.
“The Torah is inside the safe,” Colon said. “We took the safe and we went over to Jewel Avenue and managed to open the safe and the Torah was in there. We closed the safe back up and that’s it.”
Essig found the stolen safe, with the Torah still inside, across from 67-05 Park Dr. in Kew Gardens Hills, along the eastern edge of Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Colon was charged with burglary and two counts of grand larceny, because the religious scroll is valued at more than $50,000. His bail was set at $40,000 cash/$75,000 insurance company bond/$100,000 partially secured bond.
The Torah is currently being cared for by the Rockaway Nassau Safety Patrol. Ten portions were damaged and are in the process of being repaired by Rabbi Gedaliah Oppen. Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato visited RNSP to see the recovered Torah and praised the Queens Major Case Squad, the 101st Precinct and RNSP for the investigation that culminated in the arrest of Colon and the rescue of the Torah.
“This remarkable achievement is a testament to the dedication and perseverance of our law enforcement,” Pheffer Amato said. “All of us owe a debt of gratitude to the NYPD and RNSP for their tireless efforts that ultimately led to the recovery — as this collaboration between law enforcement and the community is a powerful reminder of what can be achieved when we work together towards a common goal.”
