Yorktown Supervisor Ed Lachterman announces an arrest
A 15-year-old male Yorktown resident has been arrested in connection with the hateful and vulgar graffiti discovered at two town parks.
The graffiti, found by residents on Sunday, targeted the Jack DeVito Veterans Memorial Track & Field and the Patriot Skate Park. The disturbing graffiti included anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic words at the skate park and profane images and words at the track.
Following an investigation, police quickly identified the juvenile as the suspect. On Thursday, the boy, accompanied by his parents, surrendered to authorities at police headquarters.
The juvenile is charged with second-degree hate crime/criminal mischief, a felony; third-degree criminal mischief, a felony; and two counts of making graffiti, a misdemeanor. The estimated cost of the damage to Town property is $2,300.00.
Yorktown Police Chief Robert Noble said that a Yorktown Police officer noticed unusual activity around 3 a.m. on Sunday and logged the activity, which helped investigators solve the case.
“We’re paid to run down things that just don’t look right. And that’s what happened here,” said Chief Noble, who addressed the public during a press conference. “I remain proud of the intelligent, resourceful and professional police work demonstrated by members of the Yorktown Police Department. You live in a safe community, and you have an outstanding police department. It’s the reason I keep coming back to work every day. It’s a special place.”
The defendant was released into the custody of his parents and is scheduled to appear in the Westchester County Department of Probation on Thursday, June 5, at 2 p.m.
Supervisor Ed Lachterman praised the police department’s ties to the community, and he noted that the arrest does not end the matter.
“We now have to continue to focus on the education of people, something that we work on quite often,” said Supervisor Lachterman. “Because something like this happens, it does not mean that the people involved are necessarily evil people. It does not mean that the community you live in is a bad community. It’s humanity, or lack of it in some cases. We will stand today, tomorrow and every day to try to bring that education through, to try to work with our residents to make sure that they are in a safe community so that everyone is respected for who they are.”
Councilman Sergio Esposito said that preventing hate speech among youth is a parental responsibility.
“It begins with the parents talking to their children putting them in the right mindset where they can be open and accepting. I don’t think this was out of malice, it was something that could have been prevented through education,” said Councilman Esposito.
