Mentally disturbed man arrested after damaging church property during neighborhood shooting

BENSONHURST — POLICE ARRESTED MAN WHO Smashed Two Statues and an Entrance at a Roman Catholic parish in Bensonhurst, the Daily News reports. A man with a history of mental illness used a hammer to smash the faces of two statues of Mother Teresa and Pope John XXIII at St. Dominic’s Church on July 20.th Avenue on Monday afternoon, June 10, police said Tuesday. The attacker, identified as Randy Maldonado-Avila, then used the hammer to smash the church doors and then a traffic light. He also reportedly destroyed a glass-enclosed bus stop. An alert resident, identified in the Daily News as Joanne Liggieri, was able to give police a description of the vandal, who caught up with him after he destroyed the bus kiosk, took him into custody and charged him with criminal damage to property. As of press time Tuesday, June 11, no hate crime charges had been filed, although an arraignment was scheduled for that afternoon. The attacker had previously been diagnosed with mental illness.

Father Michael Lynch, pastor of St. Athanasius-St. Dominic Parish, noted in a statement to the Eagle and other media that the vandal attacked both the neighborhood and the church and that the NYPD has surveillance footage. “The NYPD has determined that we were not the only target in this random attack in the neighborhood, as other buildings were also damaged,” he said. “We ask our parishioners and neighbors to pray for this individual and for peace of mind as nerves calm and calm is restored.”

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