MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A Miami man was arrested Tuesday after police said he made threatening phone calls to a Miami Beach bagel shop, targeting the business because its owners were Jewish.
Jorge Mateo Rucinque, 26, faces a charge of making threatening phone calls.
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According to the arrest report, Rucinque made several calls on Monday to Bagel Time Cafe in the 3900 block of Alton Road. In one of the calls, Rucinque told the owner's wife that he would "explode the Jewish community," the report said.
After his arrest by the Miami Beach Police Department's Intelligence Unit, Rucinque told officers that he sought out Jewish businesses by searching the internet for key words such as "Jews" and "kosher," the report said. Rucinque works as an Uber driver.
According to the police report, Rucinque did not posses any weapons when he was arrested at his home.
Yehoshua Nodel, the owner of the cafe, told Local 10's Andrew Perez that Rucinque basically told his wife that Jews were taking over the world.
"(He said,) 'We're going to make sure you can't overpopulate like you are now and we're going to get rid of you,' basically," Nodel said. "'I'm here. That's my mission.'"
Nodel said he alerted police after the calls, especially in light of recent deadly attacks on synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway, California.
"This thing could happen in any of our businesses all around Miami," Nodel said. "Personally, I wouldn't get a gun permit until today, but now I'm rethinking it, you know? Maybe it's something I should have."
Late Tuesday, Rucinque was held on $500 bond at Miami-Dade County's Turner Guildford Knight Correctional Center.