Crime & Safety
Swastikas painted on Riverside home on Christmas Day; police investigating potential hate crime
Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel said investigators are getting leads on the felony criminal damage case.
Update, Dec. 29 3:47 p.m.: Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel is urging residents with potential information about the hate crime to come forward. Police have leads but a suspect has not been named.
Original story:
Swastikas and Nazi symbols were spray-painted on house under construction in Riverside likely on Thursday, Christmas Eve.
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Officers arrived to the house on the 3000 block of Lionel Road around 8:50 a.m. on Friday, Christmas Day finding 25 damaged windows, painted with swastikas, said Riverside Police Department Chief Tom Weitzel.
The new homeowners are of Indian descent, and due to their background, the house may have been targeted, Weitzel said.
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The home was left partially open as for framework, but there was no physical evidence left of the perpetrators, Weitzel said.
The incident is still under investigation. Anyone with information on this crime should call Detective Jim Lazansky at (708) 447-2127.
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