Motive of church vandalism unknown

Hate graffiti found at St. Vincent before windows broken

June 21, 2006

By DAN JOHNSON
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

A few weeks before vandals broke five windows at St. Vincent de Paul Church, someone wrote in chalk, "Maybe You're Wrong" and "Satan Loves You" on its plaza and steps, said Father Gary Lombardi, pastor of the church.

But at this point, it's unknown if there is a connection between the two incidents or if the broken windows reflect an unrelated hate crime, said Capt. Dave Sears of the Police Department.

"It's an open investigation, and we're still trying to find suspects. Until we find a suspect, we won't know if it was a hate crime," he said.

As the investigation continues, the windows at the church have been boarded up until they can be repaired. Nick Lukas, who runs a stained-glass window repair service in San Francisco, has submitted a bid of $5,000 to do the job. The windows were made in 1926 by Franz Mayer & Co., then a world-renowned glass company in Germany.

Father Gary Lombardi of the church said that some news reports of the circumstances surrounding the broken windows have been inaccurate.

At around 10:30 p.m. on June 11, Father Abel Mena, associate pastor of the church, heard a crashing sound.

"He checked, and found a broken window in the front of the church by the library," Lombardi said. "He called Petaluma police, and I came to the church about a half-hour later. Big concrete blocks had been used to break the window, and were directly outside of it.

"The police took pictures of the window from inside and outside the church. Father Mena checked the church, and then we cleaned up the area and left."

The following morning, a custodian found a water bottle containing rubbing alcohol and a wick -- apparently a crudely made fire bomb -- inside the church, and three broken windows.

"I asked Father Mena if he had found any other broken windows when he checked, and he told me he hadn't," Lombardi said. "The next day, when a reporter came to ask about the broken windows, we found that another one had been broken the previous night."

Lombardi suspects that all of the windows were broken by the large concrete blocks, which were brought to the windows from another location. The blocks were left outside the church, by the windows.

"And the bottle probably was thrown into the church after a window was broken," he said.

Insurance and donations will cover the costs of the broken windows, and a protective screen will be installed to protect them from possible future damage, Lombardi said.

Some of the windows will be repaired in place, while others will be repaired in a shop.

On Thanksgiving night in 2005, someone threw a rock through a stained-glass window at the church, which then paid $10,000 to dismantle and reassemble the window. A suspect in the case was never found, Lombardi said.

(Contact Dan Johnson at djohnson@arguscourier.com)