Livery Driver Arrested for Trying to Start Holy War: Prosecutors

He was trying to create a little West Bank on Long Island, prosecutors say.

A former Brooklyn car service driver is accused of writing threatening, anti-Jewish notes on torn up vouchers and dropping them around Long Island -- and, according to the Nassau County District Attorney's office, Demetrios Apolonides' motive for allegedly dropping "Kill the Jews" notes was to create strife between Muslims and Jews.

Apolonides, a married father of one living in Brooklyn, believed that Muslims would be blamed and tensions would escalate, a prosecutor said. It was unclear why exactly he may have wanted to create such a hostile atmosphere.

Apolonides has pleaded not guilty through his attorney but will be back in court this afternoon. He is charged with dropping the notes at least nine times in Nassau county between Sept. 2009 and March 2010.

Longtime Rockville Centre resident Gerald Aronowitz, 67, found one of the notes on his front lawn.

"It disturbed us," he said.

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