UPDATE: Police arrest suspect in Queens church vandalism

Some of you may remember this item from several days ago.

Now, an update: 

Police arrested 69-year-old Nasra Alnadrahi at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 22, on charges of cemetery desecration and criminal mischief connected to incidents at Shrine Church of St. Gerard Majella over the last few weeks.

St. Gerard Majella has been visited between midnight and dawn three times since Sept. 10 and experienced roughly $12,000 worth of damages to its prayer garden in the parking lot across from the church. Pastor Father JosephJude Gannon believes the same woman, caught on a surveillance camera, was responsible for all three incidents.

“Thank God she was found and no NYPD officers were hurt, and the church was not further hurt,” said Father Gannon.

On Sept. 10, a woman is caught on video around 4 a.m. ripping down all of the parish signs off the fence around the prayer garden, as well as the potted plants lining the sidewalk. The second incident was between 12:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. Sept. 16 when a woman tore out the garden’s sprinkler system and sawed off a section of the railing along the steps that lead into the parking lot before pulling down all 20 of the rosary stations in the garden and threw them away. The next night, Sept. 17, a woman is seen failing to knock down the statue of Mary, a focal point of the garden, before taking pictures of the statue and leaving.

Father Gannon announced the news of the arrest to the parish community at Mass on Sunday to applause followed by parishioners sharing hugs.

“It’s a big opportunity for renewal and reenergizing our community after a couple of weeks of darkness and destruction,” Father Gannon said. “We can start fresh.”

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