HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Police have announced that they have arrested a man who was allegedly caught on video dropping a container filled with feces outside of a Jewish school in Hallandale Beach while riding an electric bicycle.
Hallandale Beach Police confirmed 39-year-old Jeffrey Carl Fleming was apprehended. The charges he faces include a hate crime.
“We investigate all crimes, and we do not take any crime lightly, especially hate crimes,” said Hallandale Beach Police Capt. RaShana Dabney-Donovan.
7News cameras captured the suspect as he was brought to the Broward County Jail, Monday night.
Sunday night, surveillance video showed a man tossing a cooler outside of the Chabad of South Broward along East Hallandale Beach Boulevard.
Inside the cooler was human waste.
7News cameras captured the man shortly after, as he pedaled away from the Chabad.
Students at the school said they were relieved to hear about the arrest.
“We were in the middle of praying. It’s just not right,” said student Abigail Elyakim. “It was also a holiday as well, and he came to disturb us.”
“I’m glad the situation is being taken care of,” said student Hannah Gniwisch. “I’m really thankful for the police here in Hallandale for making sure we’re safe.”
Police said Sunday’s incident was the second time Fleming had left feces outside of the house of worship.
Cellphone video captured him as he went on an antisemitic rant, Friday afternoon.
Hours later, police and witnesses said, he returned and left a bag filled with feces.
“Apparently, a young lady who was picking up her daughter from the Chabad witnessed this Black male dump what appeared to be a large bag or a pillowcase or some white cloth that contained human feces,” said Dabney-Donovan.
The woman who witnessed the incident said she came to the Chabad to pick up her daughter from school when she spotted Fleming.
“After he left the bag, I followed him at least to the corner,” she said.
The witness said the suspect began shouting even more hateful language.
“When he noticed that I was following him, he started yelling, ‘[Expletive] Jews. You should not be doing this,’” she said, “and then I continued to go back to the school and stayed away from him.”
In another incident, a man who asked 7News not to share his name for safety concerns said he believes he was targeted by teenagers for his Jewish beliefs.
He said he was walking home from service at the Chabad on May 14 when one of the teens threw a rock at him.
“All of a sudden, I feel a rock at my leg,” he said.
The Hallandale Beach community spoke out against the string of incidents at a large pro-Israel rally held Sunday.
Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper asked for unity.
“We need to live as brothers and sisters and as Americans, and as a Jewish American, I want to stop the hate,” she said.
Fleming has been charged with stalking with an enhancing felony charge for a hate crime, as well as littering human waste.
Leaders at the Chabad said they have stepped up security in the wake of the incidents.
On Monday, a spokesperson for the Anti-Defamation League issued a statement regarding this troubling trend. It reads, “Enough is enough. We call on elected officials, law enforcement, community leaders and social media companies to take immediate action and publicly stand against this abhorrent surge of antisemitism.”
Fleming is expected to make his first court appearance on Tuesday.
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