Man Arrested for Robbing Money Box From Shul’s Coffee Room

The New York Police Department, with the assistance of Boro Park Shomrim, arrested a man Wednesday evening who had stolen from the money box in the coffee room of the Belzer shul in Boro Park, according to the NYPD and Shomrim.

The suspect was seen on the shul’s surveillance cameras Sunday evening entering the coffee room and robbing the box where coffee drinkers deposit money to pay for their coffee. Shomrim had also received a complaint about a similar-looking man who had stolen a UPS parcel from the stoop of a Boro Park home. Shomrim distributed a photo of the suspect to its members, and on Wednesday evening, a Shomrim member saw the suspect in Boro Park. Shomrim called the NYPD and followed the suspect until the police arrived and arrested him.

The suspect was identified as Joseph Raport, a 24-year-old African-American man who lives at 320 Ocean Parkway. Raport had been known to wear a yarmulke and solicit charity from shuls and homes in Boro Park.

It is estimated that the money box that Raport robbed contained somewhere between $20 and $100. He was charged with petit larceny.