Church vandal caught on surveillance cam arrested
A Morristown man was arrested Sunday in connection with the vandalism of five New Jersey churches over the weekend, authorities said.
Zuri C. Towns, 45, confessed to breaking signs and windows at the predominantly African-American churches, according to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office.
Towns, who as a child attended services at one of the targeted churches, was charged with four counts of criminal mischief.
Authorities said they were no longer investigating the damage as a bias attack and that the former parishioner said he had acted alone.
Security footage obtained by The Post shows the suspect, clad in a hoodie and jacket, walking briskly up to the corner of Church of God in Christ for All Saints in Morristown around 6:45 a.m. Saturday, and limply tossing a rock at the building’s facade.
“It wasn’t a good throw, he wasn’t a strong guy,” 17-year-old Tahj Valentine said prior to the arrest as he vacuumed up glass before services Sunday. “He side-armed it, he’s obviously not a baseball player.”
The young worshipper added, “The devil is not going to stop us. But he’s welcome to come here and repent.”
“We’re going to pray for him now,” fellow church-goer Porsche Robinson interjected. “We can’t be fearful.”
Pastor Robert Rogers told The Post that he has been more closely monitoring the house of worship’s security footage since a gunman killed 26 people in a church shooting in rural Texas earlier this month.
Rogers and his son provided the footage to cops, which prosecutors said led to Towns’ arrest.
The five damaged churches are Church of God in Christ for All Saints, Bethel A.M.E. Church, Calvary Baptist Church and Union Baptist Church, in Morristown; and Morristown Church of Christ in Morris Township.
“You would never think this would happen in a place of worship,” Rogers said, adding his flock is shaken. “It’s a sacred place. You don’t desecrate places of worship, but I guess we’re living in different times. I guess this is what happens now.”
“We’re not going to let this stop us from worshipping,” he added.
Source:-Â https://nypost.com/2017/11/26/alleged-church-vandal-caught-on-surveillance-cam/
