Great Police Work Leads to Arrest of Three; Fourth Arrest Coming
Great police work led the Yorktown Police Department to charge three Croton-on-Hudson teenagers with criminal mischief and criminal impersonation for spray painting racist and anti-Semitic graffiti on Croton Dam Road on May 21.
One of the teens is 18 years old and he was charged as an adult, while the two others are juveniles. Yorktown Police also identified a fourth Croton-on-Hudson teen suspect, who is expected to be charged with similar crimes in the coming days.
“I will not stand for anyone in our community feeling annoyance, alarm, or straight-out fear from graffiti like this,” said police Chief Robert Noble. “The Yorktown Police Department will continue to be the backbone of this community. We’ve got a lot of work to do in society, and we’ll do our best as a law enforcement agency to rally the community together.”
Noble said that police were able to identify the accused because they painted the name and initials of an uninvolved peer in their graffiti in hopes that the peer would be blamed for the crime. The Yorktown Police classified the incident as a bias crime and referred evidence to the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, which could file additional charges for aggravated harassment, a felony.
“My hope is that this sends a very clear message to anyone who wants to spread vile, racist hate in our community,” said Supervisor Matt Slater. “Our police department and our community will stand up against you every single time. We will pursue you. And we hope, with the assistance of the district attorney’s office, you will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
The graffiti was discovered under a Taconic State Parkway overpass on May 21. Noble noted that the hate speech was reported to the media before it was reported to the police.
“Hate has no home here,” said Councilman Tom Diana. “I’m very happy that these were not members of our community.”
In response to the hate graffiti, on Tuesday night the Yorktown Town Board adopted an anti-Semitism policy, as well as a civil rights nondiscrimination statement and a Race Amity Day resolution.
“To me this situation is sadder because we have youth here of Jewish descent that tried to weaponize the tools of the Nazis to work against their friends or classmates,” said Councilman Ed Lachterman, who for several years has led the Town’s Holocaust remembrance ceremonies. “It’s just a horrible situation.”
Councilman Sergio Esposito reminded the public about the power of hate speech, and he urged adults to be mindful about what they post on social media.
“Using inciteful rhetoric is not helpful,” said Councilman Esposito. “You’re behind the keyboard and you’re typing away and there is no accountability, but it affects our youth.”
