SW News: In Washington DC, police have arrested a man in connection with the vandalism and burglary at a Catholic school in the city. The authorities have informed that 32-year-old Demitrius Hansford was arrested on Tuesday, August 16.

Two acts of vandalism took place at the 100-year-old St. Anthony Catholic School and they are under investigation. The authorities have reportedly cited the incident as “possibly motivated” by bias or hatred.

In the first incident on August 10, two benches, a windowsill, and a statue of St Antony were damaged. When the statue of the saint was toppled, its head came off and it is still missing. The benches in the school playground were also destroyed. According to the school principal, Michael Thomasian, “We’re just in shock somebody would do this,” he said. “We’ve been in the community for 100 years. Brookland is a wonderful community, and we’ve had vandalism before, but this was an act full of hate.”

Decrying the hate crime, the principal further said, “When you attack a symbol of the school, a Catholic school, and when you target someone that represents who we are in our mission, and you cut off the head and take it with you, that’s full of hate.”

The second act of vandalism occurred five days after the first incident on August 16. This time, the burglar entered the school through the broken window and looted the principal’s office. The bandit took away $1400 alongside three digital cameras, memory cards, flash drives, and a jar of loose coins from the principal’s office. The invader then shattered two other statues in the school.

Hansford was arrested and charged by the police after they searched his home after a complaint of him assaulting his mother. When the police came home, they identified the looted items similar to those in the school.

He was then presented to a Washington DC Superior Court, where he pleaded not guilty.