A hammer-wielding vandal was arrested Monday after he used a hammer to smash the faces of statues of Mother Teresa and the Catholic Pope outside a Brooklyn church.
Police said Randy Maldonado-Avila, 30, allegedly used a hammer to hit a statue at St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church in Bensonhurst, then smashed a glass door before continuing his escapades by vandalizing a pedestrian sign and two MTA bus stops.
Maldonado Avila, of Flatbush, attacked the statues of Mother Teresa and Pope John XXIII outside the church on Bay Ridge Parkway around 3:30 p.m., missing Pope John XXIII’s face and right hand, photos posted by the church showed.
Police said the man then allegedly smashed the church’s glass doors and wandered off, damaging a pedestrian traffic light and two glass bus stops along Bay Parkway.
“Yesterday, a random act of violence occurred at St. Dominic’s Church. We are saddened by the damage and senseless violation of the sacred icons, as well as the broken glass on the church door,” the church said. He wrote on Facebook Photos of the damage were also posted on Tuesday, with the caption “Thank goodness no one was hurt.”
Maldonado-Avila, who has no criminal history, was arrested about 15 minutes after the vandalism and charged with four felony counts of criminal damage to property, four misdemeanor counts of criminal damage to property and four counts of unlawful possession of a weapon, according to the NYPD.
He was taken to a local hospital where he remained until Tuesday night.
It is unclear whether Maldonado Avila will face hate crime charges for vandalizing the Catholic church.
