Police announced on Thursday that an alumnus of Shalhevet High School was arrested for allegedly burglarizing multiple celebrity homes.
The alumnus, identified as 32-year-old Benjamin Eitan Ackerman, allegedly posed as a real-estate agent during open houses, where he would reportedly case the homes and then come back later to steal items.
Ackerman allegedly stole more than 2,000 items worth millions of dollars including jewelry artwork and wine, from celebrities including Adam Lambert and Usher. Authorities posted pictures of the stolen items online
Ackerman was released on $1 million bail and forensics tests on the stolen items are ongoing.
According to The Boiling Point, Shalhevet’s student newspaper, Ackerman was known as a cordial person who was friendly with everyone, even though he wasn’t overly sociable and shied away from pictures.
“It’s kind of upsetting sometimes when you have religious people committing crimes, because there’s an expectation that if you have a religious upbringing you will not steal from people or hurt people yet we see it all the time,” Shalhevet Judaic Studies teacher Rabbi Abraham Lieberman told The Boiling Point. “That’s the human being, Jewish or not Jewish.”
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.