A major demonstration is unfolding tonight outside the Lakewood Police Department headquarters, as hundreds of community members – including the BMG roshei yeshiva – rally in support of R’ Binyomin Kubani, a respected yungerman and father of eight who was arrested on Thursday under deeply troubling circumstances.
The arrest has sent shockwaves through the Lakewood kehilla, with many accusing the police of acting recklessly, ignoring basic investigative protocol, and increasingly showing disregard for the overwhelmingly Orthodox Jewish population of Lakewood — which comprises the vast majority of township residents.
The controversy began when R’ Binyomin, who learns in BMG, stopped at a Route 88 car wash with his child after discovering leftover meat had leaked in his van from the previous Shabbos. He hoped to hire a day worker — as is common practice across Lakewood — to help clean the carpets. According to multiple witnesses, he approached a 15-year-old Hispanic youth he had previously hired around Erev Pesach for a similar job. He asked if the boy wanted to come to his house later to clean the van.
Instead of agreeing, the boy took a picture of R’ Binyomin, flagged down a passing Lakewood patrol car, and claimed he had been “solicited.” Police immediately took the teen to headquarters for a statement, and, without interviewing R’ Binyomin or allowing him to present any explanation or evidence, arrested him and booked him into the Ocean County jail in Toms River. He remains held there, awaiting a court appearance that may only take place Tuesday.
Police in these situations typically interview both parties and attempt to establish a timeline of facts before making an arrest. Yet R’ Binyomin was denied the opportunity to make any statement or show supporting proof, even though he had an attorney present, sources told Lakewood Alerts.
Meanwhile, frustration with the Lakewood Police Department has erupted into public anger, with protestors now demanding accountability and even calling for high-level changes within the department. Chatter is intensifying about replacing the police chief and possibly other senior officers seen as having failed the township’s community.
Lakewood Alerts has confirmed through reliable sources that there is already discussion at the township level of a leadership shake-up at the department, as confidence in current command staff has cratered.
Lakewood Alerts previously reported that Police Chief Greg Meyer had recently suffered a health emergency while away on vacation and had to be flown back by emergency medical helicopter — a detail the department tried to keep under wraps.
