Police search waters off Long Beach for missing Torahs taken in burglary

Nassau County police searched the ocean waters off Long Beach Tuesday, looking for artifacts stolen from Chabad of the Beaches at Temple Beth El last month.

A police dive team wearing scuba tanks and carrying metal detectors on a rope line canvassed the ocean for about two hours Tuesday afternoon. They focused on an area between two jetties at Lafayette and Washington boulevards where a homeless man had been found wandering the beach Aug. 21.

No new artifacts were found Tuesday, Nassau police said.

Last month, Long Beach police arrested Hunter McElrath, 23, who was found on the beach naked, holding a spear and wrapped in a Jewish prayer shawl stolen from Chabad of the Beaches.

McElrath was charged with felony burglary, criminal mischief and grand larceny after police said that he ransacked the temple two weeks ago and stole several Torahs and silver crowns from the congregation.

He was remanded to jail and is set to return to court Sept. 16. His attorney could not be reached for comment.

Several pieces of silver from the Torahs were found on the beach Aug. 21, but the scrolls from the temple and other artifacts have not been recovered.

Rabbi Eli Goodman at Chabad of the Beaches could not be reached.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said, "We’ve had two big storms and we’ll see what we can find … Even if we can find one remnant, I think it would give a sense of closure to the Chabad."

Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said the dive team was searching above water using metal detectors on the jetties and a police boat was making several trips between the jetties searching in water about 5 feet deep.

"We’re hoping on the Jewish holiday to give a little hope," Ryder said. "At least the congregants of the synagogue know we’re doing everything we can."

Nassau County and Long Beach police announced this week they would increase patrols around synagogues and places of worship during the Jewish High Holy Days.

Rosh Hashana started Monday and ends Wednesday.

The burglary in Long Beach was not considered to be an antisemitic attack, but the suspect was believed to be in mental distress, Ryder said.

"Obviously the concern is safety not just during the holy days, but all year-round," Ryder said. "There is a rise of antisemitism around the country, but not so much in Nassau County and we want to keep it that way. "

The missing Torahs are handwritten, including thousands of laws and passed down from generations. Rabbi Goodman said they are irreplaceable.

The temple recently returned the remaining Torahs to the temple and repaired a holy ark broken during the burglary.

Long Beach Police Commissioner Ronald Walsh said: "These items are extremely important to the temple and the whole community. Anytime you have any intrusion to a house of worship it’s egregious. We will leave no stone unturned to recover the objects."

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.