Wedding, Religious Study Session Prompt Summonses In Lakewood

LAKEWOOD, NJ — Despite statements from both the New Jersey attorney general's office and the Ocean County prosecutor's office warning that no weddings are permitted, authorities broke up a wedding in Lakewood on Tuesday.

There were 18 people who received summonses in three incidents, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and New Jersey State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan said Wednesday. The incidents were among a dozen in the daily report from authorities on violations of the executive order by Gov. Phil Murphy to stay at home during the public health emergency of the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

The wedding involved nine people and was in the back yard of a home on Read Place, authorities said. Officers found a van in the driveway occupied by two adults and three children. The driver told police she was there for family photos for a wedding.

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In the back yard, there was a photographer, Yakov Makukha, photographing a family of six. Summonses were issued to Yakov Makukha, 40, Pinchos Aron, 25, Miriam Aron, 33, Yehudah Aron, 36, Tziporah Aron, 33, Yaakov Wiesner, Peninah Wiesner, 30, Ephraim Aron, 34, and Shmarya Aron, 20, all for violating the executive order issued by Gov. Phil Murphy banning gatherings.

Though a letter circulated over the weekend that claimed Grewal and Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer had signed off on arrangements for "small" wedding celebrations, both Billhimer and Grewal's office said nothing of the sort had been approved.

The issue has been a thorn in the side of residents of surrounding towns, where anger has simmered since Murphy's initial executive orders curtailing gatherings on March 16. The claim that weddings had been approved prompted repeated comments on social media decrying the idea that rules were being applied unequally.

"The Attorney General’s Office has neither reviewed nor approved any plans with respect to weddings at catering halls or elsewhere in New Jersey," Leland Moore, spokesman for the attorney general's office said Tuesday by email. "The governor’s executive orders and related administrative orders concerning gatherings and social distancing remain in full effect and are the most effective tools we have to protect the health of New Jerseyans during this pandemic."

"We have not authorized or approved weddings in Lakewood or any other municipality," Billhimer said Tuesday morning. "(Executive Order) 107, paragraph 6, prohibits nonessential businesses from opening. Wedding venues are nonessential. So to be clear, no wedding venues have been authorized by the my office."

Billhimer said a "marriage ceremony itself is not an issue, as long as it comports with the requirements of all of the EOs and AOs. Less than 10 people total, social distancing and wearing masks."

"As Attorney General Grewal and Colonel Callahan make clear every day in their daily enforcement updates, New Jersey law enforcement will hold those who flout these orders accountable," Moore said.

In addition to the wedding, eight people received summonses after a group of men were found studying in a school on Drake Road. Lakewood police found of the students, including a juvenile, had been given permission to study there by the head of the school, Shmuel Hirth.

Hirth, 49, Asher Jacobs, 23, Shmuel Weneintraub, 21, Pinchos Sinsky, 19, Shcomo Rosenfeld, 18, Arych Penstien, 22, Yuhuda Bronspigez, 25, and Rivka Jacobs, 47, all were charged with violating the emergency orders by police and the prosecutor’s office. Rivka Jacobs is the mother of the juvenile, the attorney general's office.

Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

A third incident resulted in Alexander Ellinson, 64, of Lakewood, being charged with disorderly conduct, the attorney general's office said. As Lakewood police and the prosecutor's office were investigating a report of a large gathering at a home on 8th Street, Ellinson pulled up in his SUV and began yelling at police about their actions at his neighbor’s house.

Ellinson continued to yell and nearly struck an officer as he drove away, the attorney general's office said. Police stopped him and issued a summons.

Note: This article has been updated to reflect that 18 people were charged.

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