Crime & Safety

Police Break Up Large Crowd At Sikh Temple

No injuries were reported and no arrests made when unrest between hundreds brewed Sunday afternoon at the Glen Rock temple.

A disturbance involving about 200 members of the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Sikh Temple in Glen Rock Sunday afternoon prompted the response of about 20 police officers to prevent a potential fight from breaking out.

Ultimately, the crowd dispersed without incident and no injuries were reported nor arrests made, police said.

According to Glen Rock Police Sgt. Dean Ackerman, a dispute over "an undisclosed internal matter" at the temple was peacefully resolved when temple-goers agreed to leave the Prospect Street temple grounds. The incident occurred during a religious service. Ackerman declined to comment on how the incident developed.

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Police from Ridgewood, Waldwick, Fair Lawn, Paramus, Hawthorne, Ho-Ho-Kus and Bergen County Police Department all responded. The report was first called in at 2:51 p.m. and the scene cleared about 40 minutes later, Ackerman said.

It's not the first time officers have been dispatched to the temple on report of unrest. In 2009, two people were arrested on charges of assaulting a police officer after a large fight broke out in the temple parking lot. 

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