Public help asked in church vandalism

NEWS

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas

L.A. County Board of Supervisors, 2nd District

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 25, 2009 Contact: James Bolden

213-200-5314

RIDLEY-THOMAS JOINS LAPD DETECTIVES IN CALL

FOR HELP IDENTIFYING SUSPECTS IN VANDALISM OF

TWO SOUTH LOS ANGELES HOUSES OF WORSHIP

He reintroduces $10,000 reward offered last month by the County of Los

Angeles to help solve the St. Mark United Methodist Church case

LOS ANGELES COUNTY -- Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas today joined LAPD

detectives and members of the community at the site of one of two South Los Angeles

houses of worship that were vandalized within the last month, asking for the public’s help

in identifying those responsible for the heinous crimes.

 

Joined by LAPD Captain Robert Green, Commanding Officer, 77th Street

Community Police Station, Lieutenant Tom McMullen of the 77th Street Detectives Unit

and various members of the community, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas emphasized that

“we simply cannot tolerate houses of worship being open targets of this type of mean-spirited vandalism in our communities.”

 

On Sunday, February 8, 2009, the Saint Mark United Methodist Church was severely

vandalized and burglarized. A stained glass window of the church was shattered,

several walls and The Holy Cross were spray painted with obscenities and graffiti and

chemical fire extinguishers were sprayed inside of the church. Damages exceeded $21,

000.

 

On Saturday, March 7, 2009, The Church of Scientology Community Center located

at 8039 South Vermont was vandalized with hate messages and other graffiti.

Upon hearing about the earlier crime, Supervisor Ridley-Thomas immediately asked

the Board of Supervisors to post a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of

suspect(s) responsible for vandalizing of St. Marks United Methodist Church. He also

directed the County’s Human Relations Commission to review the St. Marks’ vandalism

and provide an assessment and their recommendations in the case.

 

While leads are few, The Supervisor hope was that re-introducing the County’s

$10,000 reward will help generate new information that will help LAPD detectives solve

both crimes.

 

“I urge anyone with information about these crimes to contact the LAPD’s Southwest

Station Detectives at (213) 485-4175 or (877) LAPD-24-7,” Supervisor Ridley Thomas

said.