Three Waukegan 17-year-olds were in the Lake County Jail on Monday charged with a hate crime in connection with satanic messages and symbols they spray-painted on the walls and doors of St. Anastasia Church in Waukegan, authorities said.
Jonathon M. Wilson, of the 1100 block of Chestnut Street; Anthony Clauss, of the 1000 block of Woodlawn Avenue; and James Harkins, of the 900 block of Ridgeland Avenue, also were charged with felony criminal damage to property.
At a hearing in Lake County early Monday, bail for Wilson and Clauss was set at $50,000; bail for Harkins was set at $10,000. Police said Harkins’ bail was lower because he acted as a look-out while the other two vandalized the church.
When a worker arrived early Sunday to open the church at 624 Douglas Ave., he found the words “demon” and “dark side” scrawled in silver metallic spray paint on the exterior, Sgt. Dan Greathouse of the Waukegan Police Department said. Inverted crosses and “666” were also painted in large block letters on the pillars and doors, Greathouse said.
He said old-fashioned detective work and a rare brand of touch-up auto paint led police to the three youths, who he said told police they spray-painted the church for the shock value and because they didn’t share the parishioners’ belief in God.
“They intended to mess with the minds of the churchgoers,” Greathouse said.
The pastor, Rev. Terrence McCarthy, said people who attended for services Sunday were sad to see the graffiti.
“Most were crestfallen and bewildered, wondering why someone would violate the church,” said McCarthy, who said volunteers removed the graffiti using paint thinner.
“Even if the (suspects’) beliefs were different, couldn’t they see that in feeding and clothing the hungry, we are trying to do some good in this world?” McCarthy said. “What is so awful about a church?”
Greathouse said police caught the suspects by following a trail of silver metallic graffiti, a discarded spray paint can and a silver spray paint cap to the backyard of a home where Wilson lives with his mother and grandfather. Police followed the paint down an alley in the 1400 block of Poplar Avenue, where six detached residential garages and a van had been vandalized, Greathouse said.
Greathouse said the paint, called Light Jadestone, is made specifically for General Motors vehicles manufactured in 1981 and 1982.
Wilson’s grandfather identified the paint container as his, and a search of Wilson’s room found a half-empty paint can without a cap, Greathouse said. The grandfather confirmed that he was missing two cans of the paint.
During questioning by police, Wilson–who police said had silver paint on his fingernails–admitted that he had painted the graffiti and identified Clauss and Harkins as accomplices, Greathouse said.
