In Orange County, State Police Try to Bring Calm to Kiryas Joel

What may have started out as a dispute about the distribution of political or religious flyers in the Orange County village of Kiryas Joel escalated Saturday into a running series of incidents in which so much trash and debris was thrown onto local streets that highway workers had to be called out to make roads passable for traffic, according to State Police.

State Police based in Monroe are still trying to sort out exactly what happened in the chaos, which so far has led to several arrests and the impounding of several cars. Troopers say they have identified other individuals in connection with this series of incidents and their investigation is continuing.

Kiryas Joel is a religious enclave of Satmar Hasidim, practitioners of a strict form of Judaism.

State Police said they first received complaints in Kiryas Joel about the distribution of political or religious flyers across the streets and roadways throughout the community. Troopers said they discovered that the incident had escalated to garbage and household refuse being thrown across roadways by pedestrians and people in moving cars.

In some cases, trash was lit on fire, either in dumpsters or on the roadways. On Saturday, the Town of Monroe Highway Department had to be notified to clear Forest Road due to it being nearly impassable to because of the refuse in the roadway, troopers said. 

State Police are also investigating a resident's reported Saturday morning that other residents of the community entered his property and spewed garbage throughout his home. In recent nights over the past week, State Police said windows have been broken out of vehicles as well as other types of damage being reported to vehicles.

State Police said they are maintaining a presence in the village during overnight hours and plan to continue patrols in the area in an effort to prevent another outbreak of incidents.

Troopers ask that anyone with information about these incidents contact them at 845-782-8311.