Synagogue Bombing Suspect Federally Indicted
Posted by Daniel Antolin on May 10, 2011 - 11:47:05 PM
Ron Hirsch. Photo courtesy of SMPD.
SANTA MONICA—On Tuesday, May 10, a 60-year-old man identified as a "transient" by authorities is being held in a local federal prison after being indicted on May 3 by a federal grand jury on several felony charges relating to an explosion he is suspected of having set off near a Santa Monica synagogue last month.
Ron Hirsch, who is being held at The Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Los Angeles, faces four federal explosives charges. If convicted, Hirsch would remain in prison for a minimum sentence of 45 years or for a maximum sentence of 75 years.
A U.S. Magistrate judge ordered that Hirsch be held without bond because he was found to be a flight risk and a danger to the community when he was returned on April 22 to Los Angeles from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where was was arrested by local police after a nationwide manhunt for his arrest.
This occurred two weeks after Santa Monica police began looking for Hirsch in connection to a 250-pound, concrete-encased steel pipe that struck the side of the Chabad House Lubavitch located at 1428 17th St. on April 7, then caused a hole two and a half feet wide in the roof of an adjacent home where a 12-year-old girl was sleeping after it landed.
Chabad House Lubavitch. Photo by Kibiwot Limo.
Thereafter, Hirsch allegedly fled capture by authorities when he boarded a Greyhound bus bound for New York City to visit family, but ultimately diverted his intended route toward a northeastern Ohio synagogue.
Arraignment for Hirsch is scheduled to take place on May 23 in United States District Court.
Though Daniel Chaplin, Hirsch's federal court-appointed attorney while appearing for a detention hearing in Cleveland, Ohio on April 13, told the press at the time that his client maintained being innocent of setting of the synagogue-adjacent explosion, the May 23 arraignment will allow the suspect to enter an official plea to the federal explosives charges he is facing.
Robert Little, who was recently asked by the U.S. District Court to act as Hirsch's attorney regarding the four federal charges, told Canyon News that he is certain that his client will enter a not guilty plea on May 23. Little said he could not comment on specific aspects of the case out of concern for Hirsch's defense and because he has yet to receive reports and discoveries.
Four federal charges against Hirsch include use of an explosive to damage property, use of an explosive to commit a federal felony, use of a destructive device during and in relation to a crime of violence, and possession of an unregistered destructive device.
Not included with these charges is a federal violation of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, Section 1074, which is an "unlawful flight to avoid prosecution for damaging or destroying any building or other real or personal property" for which Hirsch was earlier charged in Cleveland federal court.
Thom Mrozek, public affairs officer for the United States Attorney's Office, told Canyon News that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had carefully analyzed the explosive device that went off outside of the Chabad House Lubavitch to make sure that it met the legal definition of an explosive.
Federal authorities became involved in the case when Hirsch allegedly tried to flee across state lines and because the explosion occurred near a place of worship, Mrozek said.
In addition to the four federal charges, Hirsch might also face state charges that include one felony count each of explosion with intent to murder, use of a destructive device and explosive to injure/destroy, possession of a destructive device near a public place and possession of a destructive device near a private residence.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed these charges against Hirsch on April 12, the same day that he was arrested by Cleveland Heights police, in a felony complaint for his extradition.
Mrozek said that the district attorney could choose to either pursue or drop the charges, whereas Little said that he does not anticipate that the state charges against Hirsch will be upheld.
Sandi Gibbons, public information officer for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, told Canyon News that the charges against Hirsch are still being upheld until he is ultimately released from federal to state custody, though the possibility remains that the charges might later be dropped.
Gibbons said it is still too early to say.
What is definite is that Hirsch will no longer face a Santa Monica loitering charge that was utilized by police to get a warrant for his arrest after he was linked to the synagogue-adjacent explosion because the case is now being handled by federal authorities, Sergeant Richard Lewis told Canyon News.
Despite these details about the charges Hirsch faces, limited information is known about the man himself, who was known to use the aliases Ronald Jay Fisher and Israel Fisher, except that he spent time near synagogues.
Canyon News contacted 13 synagogues located in Los Angeles County and was told by their rabbis that they had never seen Hirsch. Some of these rabbis said that they were relieved to be able to say that they had never come into contact with the man.
Los Angeles County homeless shelters that Canyon News News contacted said they also had never encountered Hirsch.
Rabbi Reuven D. Gerson met Hirsch when he arrived at Torah L.I.F.E. Kolell, which is located on South Taylor Road across from the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, on April 12 and attempted to borrow a head covering worn by orthodox Jewish men.
"He is definitely Jewish," Reuven told Canyon News about Hirsch.
Further, "He did not talk to anyone about personal issues and was evasive in conversation," Reuven said.
Amanda Susskind, southwest regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, to Canyon News that she has no reason to believe that Hirsch's alleged actions are indicative of anti-semitism or that he is affiliated with some extremist group.
"It sounds more like the nature of a disturbed individual," Susskind said.
Little, Hirsch's attorney, said he did not see anything in his client's behavior one way or another that suggested he was mentally ill.
-
Serving Bel Air, Benedict Canyon, Beverly Hills. Brentwood, Laurel Canyon, Los Feliz, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Melrose, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Topanga, Canyon, Westwood & Hollywood Hills.
