What to Know
- The owner of a drone that ran out of gas and hit a police officer's head during a huge funeral for a well-known rabbi has been arrested
- The officer was left with a minor injury when the drone fell out of the air, hitting her in the face
- Another police officer at the funeral was injured when a car in the procession ran over his foot after he fell down
A man who was flying a drone that ran out of gas and hit a police officer’s head during a huge funeral for a well-known rabbi in Brooklyn has been arrested, the NYPD said.
Drone owner Yehiel Rosenfeld, 36, of Monsey in Rockland County, has been arrested and charged with reckless endangerment, assault and violation of local law, police said.
His attorney information wasn't immediately available Wednesday.
A police officer suffered a minor injury when a drone flying above the crowd of mourners gathered for the funeral in Borough Park on Tuesday lost power and fell out of the air, hitting her in the face, the NYPD said.
“There was a drone that came out of the sky and hit a police officer,” NYPD police commissioner James O’Neill said at a press conference after the funeral.
“The drone apparently ran out of gas… and it landed on the officer’s head,” he added.
Local
Another police officer working crowd control at the funeral suffered minor injuries when a car in the procession ran over his foot after he fell down, police said.
O’Neill on Tuesday said the officer may have broken his ankle.
The funeral was for Rabbi Yisroel Avrohom Portugal, who died at the age of 95. He was born in 1924 in Romania to Rabbie Eliezer Zusia Portugal who founded the Skulen Hasidic dynasty.
Father and son settled in Bucharest following World War II and in 1959 they were imprisoned for teaching Torah and helping Jewish children, according to Assembly Member Simcha Eichenstein.
They left Romania for the United States in 1960 after intervention by the U.S. State Department and Sen. Robert “Scoop” Jackson, Eichestein said.
