Cemetery family member files civil suit against teens charged in crime
By Cheryl Orson
Feb. 1, 2008

A former Highland Park resident and a current Poile Zedek member whose relatives' gravestones were among the hundreds vandalized in Poile Zedek Cemetery in New Brunswick has filed a civil suit against the four teenagers arrested and indicted for the desecration.

The civil suit filed Jan. 24 in Middlesex County Superior Court by Rutherford resident Mark Elfant, whose family has deep ties to Congregation Poile Zedek going back to the 1800s, seeks damages from the four teenagers, their parents and several other entities that might bear some responsibility.

Elfant, a past president of Congregation Poile Zedek and a member of committee that oversees the cemetery in which his parents', great-grandfather's, two uncles', and an aunt's gravestones were damaged, seeks unspecified damages from these "sacrilegious desecrators."

Attorney Gerald Gordon said Elfant will not seek monetary gain for himself. Gordon also said he won't accept a fee, either. Rather, they are seeking a monetary judgment against the teens with any money won through the suit to be used for a restoration fund, security, and perpetual future care of the cemetery.

The cost of reconstruction is currently estimated to be between $500,000 and $1 million. While adjudication of a juvenile is not a matter of public record, Gordon said, punitive-damage civil judgments remain in effect until they are paid. This would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the teens to get credit cards as adults and also damage their future credit reports.

"It's something that will be with them the rest of their lives," Gordon said, stating any judgment can be pursued even if these juveniles later move out of the country. "The bottom line is: We're not going to let them off the hook. And at least they know they're not going to be able to walk away from this."

Gordon said he is leaving open the possibility of certifying the suit as a class-action matter on behalf of other congregation members. He said that because of the extent of the damage, he is also reserving the right to have civil proceedings litigated in federal court; if this were to be considered a hate crime it could be classified under the federal anti-terrorism act, he said.

"It appears to be a terrorist act because of the magnitude of it directed toward religion," Gordon said, adding "it's not realistic" that this was not a hate crime.

Gordon is further seeking the identification of the teens, a 15-year-old, two 16-year-olds, and a 17-year-old, whose names have not been released by authorities due to their age, as part of the lawsuit with the court due to answer this request by March 3.

Elfant's grandfather, Benjamin Elfant, was one of Congregation Poile Zedek's founders in the late 1890s. His father, Morris, played a critical role in establishing the cemetery association while his mother, Ann, cared for the cemetery for more than five decades.

Gordon, also a member of Poile Zedek, said his mother ran the cemetery for more than 30 years. While the monuments atop his mother's and father's and maternal grandparents' graves were not damaged, the stone atop his cousin's grave, a 5-year-old child when he died, was toppled.

Congregation Poile Zedek is not named as a party in the suit and does not plan to file suit at this time.

The four New Brunswick teenagers, all males ages 15 to 17, were arrested on Jan. 9 in connection with the damage discovered on Jan. 6. The arrests came following what was described as "an extensive investigation" undertaken by the New Brunswick Police Department with assistance by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office and the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General Bias Crime.

Authorities said three of the teens first struck the cemetery on New Year's Day, toppling 17 gravestones. Three days later, they returned with the fourth friend and "methodically" upended rows of granite gravestones. Kaplan said it is estimated that it took the teens up to four hours to complete the desecration.

The teens were charged with delinquency, criminal mischief, desecration of venerated objects, and conspiracy to commit desecration, with each count carrying up to two years in prison. The cases of the four teens are expected to be heard in New Brunswick Family Court.