Stolen Torahs returned to NYC synagogue

NEW YORK, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- New York police have returned eight stolen Torahs -- collectively worth nearly $500,000 -- to a city synagogue in time for the Rosh Hashana holiday.

Police returned the handwritten scrolls -- recovered when two men suspected in their theft were arrested -- to representatives of the Jewish Center of Kew Gardens Hills during a ceremony Tuesday at police headquarters, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

Eric Giraldo, 23, and Alan Lozano, 28, were both charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property after Giraldo allegedly stole the Torahs and hid them at Lozano's home in August.

Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, begins Sept. 29 at sundown.