The Brooklyn home of a rabbi accused of being a pedophile was engulfed in flames early on Thursday in what police suspect was an arson attack.
Nearly 200 first responders raced to the four-alarm fire that raged at the home on East 17th Street in Midwood. The flames decimated Rabbi Jonathan Max's home and spread to two neighboring houses. Thirteen people, including a newborn baby, were injured. Authorities said none of the injuries were life-threatening, but 12 people were taken to the hospital, including nine civilians, two firefighters, and an EMS medic.
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According to New York Post, investigators found evidence of arson, including surveillance video from a nearby home that shows a person pouring a liquid around a car parked by Max's home.
According to the Daily News, authorities quickly identified a suspect – Menachem Karelefsky – a Pittsburgh resident, who also goes by the name "Matthew," and who has held a grudge against Max, a teacher at the Chaim Berlin Yeshiva, whom he accused of being a pedophile.
The rabbi's son told the Daily News that Karelefsky was "a psychopath."
"He said he was going to make an attempt on my dad's life," Ezra Max said. "He's a sick individual who needs help."
A Midwood resident, Shimon Gifter, told the Daily News that Karelefsky had threatened to kill the rabbi for years.
"He lives in Pittsburgh, but people saw him around the neighborhood yesterday," Gifter said. "He was asking people where Rabbi Max is, 'I want to kill him.' But people didn't believe him. He's been saying stuff like that for 10 years. He said to me, 'I want him to drop dead.'"
