The Charles County Sheriff’s Office charged a second 15-year-old Waldorf boy on Sept. 26 with two counts of a hate crime for an incident that occurred on Sept. 9 in the 3600 block of Mountain Ash Court in Waldorf.
Both of the accused were also charged with three counts of malicious destruction of property valued at more than $500 and one count of malicious destruction of property valued at less than $500. The first suspect, also a 15-year-old Waldorf boy, was charged Sept. 25.
Sometime between 1 a.m. and 9 a.m., the accused spray painted two residences and a vehicle with racial graffiti. “KKK” was spray painted with white paint and officers investigating the crime recovered a can of white spray paint near the scene. The forensic science unit analyzed the can for fingerprints, which led to the identification of the suspects.
In addition to the damage on Mountain Ash Court, the accused damaged two other vehicles nearby in the 3500 block of Palmetto Court and the 3600 block of Lightner Court. A window on the vehicle on Palmetto Court was shattered and the vehicle was spray painted on all sides with the white spray paint. No racially-offensive words, phrases or symbols were spray painted on the vehicle. The windshield of the vehicle on Lightner Court was cracked.
A series of disturbing hate crimes began in August but investigators believe the Mountain Ash Court incident is isolated. The Sheriff’s Office and Charles County Crime Solvers continues to seek information from the public regarding the other hate crimes. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Solvers, which is offering a reward of up to $1,000, at 1-866-411-TIPS. All callers may remain anonymous.
“I am proud of the investigators’ efforts to solve the hate crimes that have occurred in our community,” said Sheriff Frederick E. Davis. “These arrests are evidence we take hate crimes seriously and will not tolerate this offensive behavior.”