Cops: 'Satanic' Church Defacers Brag On MySpace
4 Charged With Hate Crime
(CBS/AP) MIDDLE ISLAND, N.Y. They defaced a Baptist church with satanic symbols, then bragged about it on the popular MySpace networking Web site, police said.
It wasn't long before four people were charged with a hate crime.
"We tagged the street with spray paint, then drove to the church we passed on the way there and tagged all over it with inverted crosses, pentagrams, and 6's," said the MySpace page allegedly written by one of the four suspects. "It was quite the sight to see."
Suffolk County police said the MySpace boast included images of the graffiti spray painted on the Middle Island Baptist Church last week.
Detective Sgt. Robert Reecks, commanding officer of the Hate Crimes Unit, said Monday that the teens claimed to have been inspired by Satanism. He said they went looking for a wooded area to get a "spiritual feeling" last Tuesday when they came across the church and decided to spray paint it with pentagrams and inverted crosses and such phrases as "Devil is God."
They also drew an arrow on the ground in the direction of the church and wrote, "This way to ignorance," police said.
Charged with aggravated harassment as a hate crime were Danielle Wilbur, of Central Islip, Daniel Drasser, of Port Jefferson Station, John Santariello, all 19, and Santariello's brother, William, 22, both of Farmingville. They all pleaded not guilty at their arraignment Saturday in First District Court in Central Islip.
Cops: 'Satanic' Church Defacers Brag On MySpace
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