NEW YORK, July 16 (UPI) -- A New York rabbi was charged with impersonating an officer after he allegedly yelled at drivers and showed a fake badge in incidents of road rage, police said.
Rabbi Alfredo Borodowski's lawyer said his client plans to plead not guilty this week in court to the charges.
He was arrested in June for allegedly pulling his vehicle alongside a woman, who was driving 20 mph in a school zone, and screaming at her and honking, WNBC-TV, New York, reported Monday.
"She was so freaked out with the horn honking and the screaming that she called police immediately. ... I believe my client was in danger with this guy and if she had gotten out of her car it could have escalated," said her lawyer, Richard Clifford.
The woman's name was not reported.
Once the story reached the media, two other people came forward, saying they also experienced incidents in which Borodowski tried to pull them over and yelled at them.
Andrew Rubin, Borodowski's lawyer, said the rabbi suffers from bipolar disorder, and he was only telling the people he would call the police, not that he was the police.
Borodowski was fired from his position at Temple Emanu-El, but he still leads another congregation in Larchmont, WNBC said.
