Brooklyn Man Charged With Distributing 'Kill Jews' Messages in RVC

Nassau County Police arrested a Brooklyn cabbie on Tuesday after detectives linked the man to a handful of anti-Semitic notes that were scattered throughout Long Island communities in recent months, one of them being RVC.

Police picked up Demetrios Apolonides, 37, at his home in Brooklyn around 11 a.m. on Nov. 2. They charged him with nine counts of second-degree aggravated harassment, a misdemeanor that is designated as a  hate crime. He was arraigned earlier today in First District Court in Hempstead. Upon conviction, the charge could be escalated up to an E felony, which carries a minimum of one year in jail or a maximum of four years, according to Detective Lt. Kevin Smith.

Smith spoke to reporters at a press conference this afternoon at Nassau County Police headquarters, displaying the notes that local residents had turned into the police.

According to police, the nine 1-by-3 inch slips of paper each displayed the words "Kill Jews," written in black marker. They were found in the communities of West Hempstead, Rockville Centre, Port Washington and the village of Munsey Park in Manhasset between Sept. 2009 and March 2010. The notes appeared to be cut from an 8-by-11 inch sheet of paper. When pieced together, like a puzzle, they formed what appeared to be a worksheet or log for a car service company, police said.

"Detectives were able to literally piece together those pieces of paper he distributed, and on the back of them was the full copy of a form for this car service," Smith explained.

Clearly displayed on the back of the sheet was the name, XYZ Car Service, a Brooklyn-based cab company, who Apolonides worked for as a driver. Smith said that the company was "very helpful" with the investigation.

Detectives suspect Apolonides threw these notes out the window of his taxi while driving throughout Nassau County. Three of the notes were found on Woodfield Road and Elm Street in West Hempstead and two were discovered on Harvard Avenue in Rockville Centre. Authorities said it was too soon to tell if Nassau County was the only place where the cabbie spread hate messages.