Mayor Calls Borough Park Residents Inappropriate After Riot

Mayor Bloomberg says residents of Borough Park acted inappropriately by rioting after the arrest of an Orthodox Jewish man. But he says the Police Department will look into its handling of the incident. Two other men were arrested.

REPORTER: Meanwhile, as WNYC's Beth Fertig reports, residents of the Hasidic community claim police used aggressive tactics.

Pavel Loyman was working at the 16th Avenue hardware store last night when the riot broke out. He says he was among hundreds of people who saw Arthur Schick get roughed up by police after he was stopped for talking on a cell phone while driving.

LOYMAN: And you could hear women all around, they "uhhhh" it was nightmare you could hear these voices. So they force, they push him inside and of course people start screaming don't touch him he's an old guy it's not necessary to do like this.

REPORTER: Despite the crowd's angry reaction, Loyman claims the trash fire was set by teenagers who were not dressed in Hasidic clothing. Some residents say the community was already on edge because police have been issuing a lot of parking violations to Passover shoppers. For WNYC I'm Beth Fertig.