A Fresh Meadows resident alerted authorities after witnessing a neighbor vandalize a religious statue at a local church that has been targeted several times in recent years.
Freddy Genao, 38, of 169th Street, was arrested and charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime for damaging the front doors of Holy Family Church on the night of Saturday, June 21, and then smashing the neck and face of a statue of the Blessed Mother on the front lawn.
A Holy Family parishioner, who lives in close proximity and witnessed the desecration, called its Pastor, Father Sean Suchiel, who checked the church’s security system and saw a man wearing a dark red t-shirt and dark-colored shorts, striking the doors and the statue several times with a yellow crowbar and called 911.
A housing cop assigned to Public Service Area 9 responded to the scene in time to see the vandal holding the yellow crowbar while the damaged Blessed Mother statue was still swaying, according to the criminal complaint. The housing cop saw the strikes had caused dents on the front doors and caused the right side of the face of the statue to break apart. He also saw the vandal drop the yellow crowbar on the ground near the statue and took Genao into custody.
“You got me,” Genao told the officer, according to the criminal complaint. He was booked at the 107th Precinct in Fresh Meadows on June 21 and arraigned in Queens Criminal Court the following day, where he was additionally charged with aggravated harassment in the first degree.
According to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, which encompasses churches and parishes in Queens, the NYPD had been tracking Genao for a previous incident where he damaged a subway car at the Union Turnpike subway station. While the diocese could not provide the cost of the damage to the statue and doors, the parish has arranged for companies to assess the damage and offer estimates for repairs. The same statue has been vandalized twice in just over a year, after it was attacked on June 30, 2024.
There was another incident in March 2023 where three teenagers were caught on camera taking and smashing a statue of an angel.
Genao was arraigned before Queens Criminal Court Judge Glenda Hernandez, who granted his release under supervision. She ordered Genao to return to court on August 21.
On Sunday, June 22, the same day Genao was arraigned, Father Suckiel marked the Feast of Corpus Christi with the monstrance with the Eucharist, the real presence of Jesus Christ, to pray with the parish near the damaged statue of the Blessed Mother, according to the Diocese.
