While authorities were concerned that a man suspected of bombing a California synagogue was headed to NYC, the 60-year-old "transient" was found in Ohio—at a Jewish Center in Cleveland Heights—and arrested. And it turns out the FBI got the tip thanks to NYC-based Orthodox news blog: The tipster told Vos Iz Neias that their site "is my favorite. It’s the news on VIN that made me aware of this story, so from the photo of the story posted earlier today, I recognized Ron Hirsch and called the FBI immediately."
Hirsch is believed to have set off a bomb at the Chabad House in Santa Monica last week. The explosion sent a 300-pound pipe that was encased in concrete flying into the air. Hirsch was familiar to people at the synagogue and other Jewish centers because he'd often seek charity from their patrons. He left on a Greyhound bus bound for NYC, but was seen exiting in Denver. Since Hirsch had family and friends in the NYC area, the FBI warned the NYPD, which in turn alerted Jewish organizations.
According to ABC News, Hirsch entered a Cleveland Heights schul on Sunday night and "asked another rabbi for a place to stay. However, Hirsch would not provide the rabbis with the kind of information they required before they would give him a bed in their community center." One rabbi said, "Basically, I took him to get him dinner. I kept on asking him questions. Things did not seem right. We decided to put him up in a local motel."
The FBI says its investigation is ongoing but officials think a personal grudge may have motivated Hirsch to create the improvised explosive and launcher.
