Jewish Group's Facebook Photo of a Black Man Spurs Criticism

Photo of an African American male riding a bike, with another in tow, was posted on the site of the Shomrim of Baltimore's Facebook page. Most commentors were critical of the group's posting of the photo for implying he is stealing the bike.

The Jewish neighborhood watch group at the center of an incident that had inflamed black-Jewish tensions in Northwest Baltimore posted a photo of an African American man this week on its Facebook page that led many commenters to criticize the picture's implication of wrongdoing. The photo, posted on Shomrim of Baltimore's publicly-accessible Facebook page, is simple enough: it shows a young, black male riding a bicycle and towing along another, riderless bike. The photo—posted without a caption, credit or explanation (see clarification below)—drew nearly 20 comments, some of which implied the unidentified black youth was a thief. The photo, like most on the page, was posted by someone with administrative privileges to the site—and not by a…

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Werdesheim Gets Probation—and Homework—for Assaulting Teen

Baltimore Circuit Judge Pamela White sentenced the former member of Shomrim of Baltimore to probation, with the condition that he research and write about Baltimore City's diverse neighborhoods and special interest groups.

A Baltimore judge on Wednesday sentenced a Jewish former neighborhood watch member to three years of probation for assaulting and illegally detaining a black teenager in the fall of 2010. But the judge also tacked on an unusual form of punishment for Eliyahu Werdesheim: homework. Werdesheim, 24, must read, research and write about Baltimore City's special interest groups and the strengths and weaknesses of its neighborhoods. "I'm not contemplating any incarceration," Baltimore City Circuit Judge Pamela White said Wednesday afternoon as she declared her sentence. "You need to broaden your sense of community." White advised Werdesheim that he could find the publications he needed for his research at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, where she …

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LETTER: Werdesheim Brothers' Trial Blown Out of Proportion

In a letter to the editor of the "Baltimore Sun," an Upper Park Heights resident explains why he believes the media erred in comparing the Baltimore incident to the George Zimmerman trial in Florida.

This month, a Baltimore City Circuit Court judge convicted Eliyahu Werdesheim of second-degree assault and false imprisonment of a 15-year-old boy in a Nov. 19, 2010, incident in Upper Park Heights. His sentencing is set for June 27. Werdesheim, who was 22 at the time, was a member of a neighborhood watch group patroling the neighborhood when he allegedly saw the teen, Corey Ausby, go up to a house and then allegedly lift up door handles on cars, witnesses said during the trial. Werdesheim's attorneys say he acted in self defense after the teen allegedly swung a board with nails protruding from it. Werdesheim's younger brother who was with him on patrol was cleared of the same charges. In a letter to the editor of the Baltimore Sun, Upper …

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Eliyahu Werdesheim Convicted in Assault of Teenager

Baltimore Circuit Judge Pamela White gave her verdict Thursday afternoon, convicting Eliyahu Werdesheim of false imprisonment and second degree assault, but clearing his brother Avi Werdesheim of all charges.

UPDATE: Werdesheim Brother Takes the Stand

The defense has begun its case in Baltimore City Circuit Court regarding the Nov. 19, 2010 incident in Upper Park Heights in which the Werdesheim brothers are accused of injuring a teenager.

  UPDATE (5:20 p.m.)—Eliyahu Werdesheim took the stand Wednesday, describing his confrontation with a 15-year-old teen in Upper Park Heights on Nov. 19, 2010. Werdesheim said "he acted in self-defense when the teen attacked him with a board," according to a FOX45 News report. "He testified that he believed his skills in negotiation and de-escalation from his time in the Israeli military would help him defuse the situation." Get daily and breaking news email updates from Pikesville Patch by signing up for newsletters here, and from North Baltimore Patch by signing up here. Werdesheim and his brother, Avi, residents of Cheswolde, face charges of false imprisonment, second-degree assault and possession of a deadly weapon with intent to injure…

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Defendant Aids Reporter Who Fainted in Courtroom

Medical student Avi Werdesheim, who is on trial for assaulting a teen, assisted a Baltimore Sun reporter.

Avi Werdesheim, a medical student on trial for assault in Baltimore City, assisted a woman who had fainted in the courtroom on Tuesday, according to a report in the Baltimore Sun. Werdesheim, a medical student at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, checked Sun reporter Tricia Bishop's vital signs before she was transported to a local hospital, the report states. Bishop was treated and released. Werdesheim and his brother, Eli, residents of Cheswolde, are on trial for a Nov. 19, 2010 incident, in which the brothers allegedly followed and beat Corey Ausby, then 15, in Upper Park Heights. Get daily and breaking news email updates from Pikesville Patch by signing up for newsletters here, and from North Baltimore Patch by signing up here…

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Cheryl Cohen

10:57 am on Thursday, May 3, 2012

Kudo's to him! He acted and reacted right on!   more ›

PHOTOS: Werdesheims' Trial Continues, Dozens of Witnesses Expected

Witnesses from Baltimore City Police Department, the Shomrim neighborhood watch group, and others testified Thursday morning.

A variety of witnesses took the stand Thursday morning during the trial of Northwest Baltimore residents Eliyahu and Avi Werdesheim. The brothers are on trial regarding a Nov. 19, 2010, incident in which they allegedly beat 15-year-old Corey Ausby while they were on patrol for Shomrim, an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood watch group. Ausby refused to testify Wednesday and was dismissed. Defense attorneys say the brothers acted in self defense after Ausby wielded a stick with nails protruding from it. Thursday morning, the second day of the trial, a Cross Country resident, a crime lab technician from the Baltimore City Police Department, and a member of Shomrim neighborhood watch group testified as witnesses of the state. Baltimore City Circuit…

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Alleged Victim Refuses to Testify in Werdesheims' Trial

"In my heart I didn't want to testify," 16-year-old Corey Ausby, a witness for the state, and the alleged victim in the state's case against two Upper Park Heights brothers, said in court Wednesday.

The 16-year-old alleged victim of a beating involving two members of a Jewish neighborhood watch group declined to testify against his alleged attackers in court. He also said he didn't want to press charges. "I feel in the heart I did wrong,” Corey Ausby said, frequently pausing between unfinished sentences. “At the same time I didn't mean to call the police on them (referring to the Werdesheims)," he said Wednesday after Baltimore City Circuit Judge Pamela White ordered him to testify. Get daily and breaking news email updates from Pikesville Patch by signing up for newsletters here. Prosecutors say Eliyahu Werdesheim, now 24, who at the time was a member of the neighborhood watch group Shomrim, and his brother, Avi Werdesheim, now 21, …

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