UPDATED: Jaffe Ordered To Pay $27.5K Bail In Connection With Ramapo College Shooting Scare

In an appearance at Mahwah Municipal Court Thursday afternoon, Gil D. Jaffe, who allegedly caused the lockdown of Ramapo College by calling his ex-girlfriend and telling her he had been shot, was ordered by Judge Anthony J. Gianni, Jr to pay $27,500 bail on two charges, with a possibility of other payments owed.

Jaffe's attorney, Alan Rodetsky, said that Jaffe would be able to post bail by the end of the day. Judge Gianni ordered that Jaffe be held until that time, and then commented that Jaffe would likely need to appear at the Superior Court of New Jersey in Hackensack to follow up on the charges against him.

For his connection with the case, Leonid Shtaygrad, was released without bail, pending an appearance at the Superior Court of New Jersey in Hackensack within 48 hours.

The two were arrested Thursday after a 23-year-old West Orange man allegedly called his Ramapo College ex-girlfriend with a false claim that he had been shot, Mahwah Police Chief James Batelli said.

Police Chief James Batelli said Gil D. Jaffe, 23, of West Orange, allegedly called his ex-girlfriend, a Ramapo College graduate who was attending a party on campus Wednesday night, claiming that he had been shot twice in the shoulder, and attempting to get her to send him cash.

Batelli said that another man, Leonid Shtaygrad, 21 of Livingston, then allegedly got on the phone purporting to be the shooter, and confirming the story that the Ramapo grad should send ransom money.

In response to the late Wednesday night incident at Ramapo College, Gil D. Jaffe was arrested on the following counts, according to Mahwah Police Chief James Batelli:

“Attempt to commit the offense of theft by deception by purposely attempting property belonging to another, knowingly transmitting a false or baseless report or warning of an impending crime  to an unwitting individual causing panic and alarm, violation of a Final Domestic Violence Restraining Order Issued by Essex County Superior Court Judge, and with purpose to harass another made communication in a manner likely to cause annoyance or alarm by repeatedly texting the phone of another.” 

Leonid Shtaygrad was also arrested for committing “the offense of theft by deception by assisting Gil Jaffe in purposely attempting to obtain property belonging to another, and assisting in knowingly transmitting a false or baseless report or warning of an impending crime causing panic and alarm,” according to Batelli.  

Police received a 911 call at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday from the 22-year-old Ramapo graduate reporting that her ex-boyfriend was being held at gunpoint and that he had been subsequently shot twice in the shoulder, according to police. Police said the caller did not initially know whether the alleged victim was on campus or not.

Police said they immediately locked down the campus and began a search for the victim. Police contacted area hospitals and other local police departments, including West Orange, which is where the victim resides.  

The police also conducted a trace of the reported victim's cell phone. According to a statement by police, West Orange police had been simultaneously dispatched to the victim's residence on an unrelated disturbance call. 

Police said West Orange PD found the alleged victim healthy and without gunshot wounds. The campus was then taken off lockdown, and students received a reverse 911 call that the campus was safe, according to police.