Youths Charged with Ransacking Islamic Center in Mohegan
Three male Mohegan Lake youths were arrested Wednesday in connection with the ransacking of the Hudson Valley Islamic Community Center on Lexington Avenue.
The unidentified youths, one 13 and the other two 12, were charged with juvenile delinquency and are scheduled to appear in Westchester County Family Court on September 30. The youths were captured on the Islamic Center’s surveillance cameras, which helped Yorktown Police locate two of them riding bicycles about 10 hours later in the neighborhood on Lakeland Street, near Clover Road. The third suspect turned himself in with a parent at police headquarters.
Yorktown Police Lieutenant Robert Noble told a reporter police were not treating the incident as a bias or hate crime.
“We just believe it was area kids going in there and creating mischief,” Noble said.
The youths allegedly vandalized the school wing of the Islamic Center, which is located next to George Washington Elementary School and was formerly Franciscan High School. The vandalism included tearing items off walls, writing profanity on blackboards and destroying several Qurans.
Reportedly, the youths entered the building through doors that were unlocked for services later in the day.
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