UPDATED Nov. 1, 12:56 p.m.
The vandals who allegedly destroyed more than 40 headstones and burial vaults inside Cypress Hills Cemetery in Glendale back in August now each face up to 15 years behind bars for the hate crimes, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced.
According to Brown, the trio allegedly caused more than $100,000 in damage when they illegally entered the burial grounds on the Queens/Brooklyn border between 6 p.m. on Aug. 14 and 6:15 a.m. the following morning.
It is alleged that Edward Evseev, 21, Mark Barrancos, 21, and Bruno Camacho, 22, gained access to the Memorial Abbey Mausoleum, where approximately 15 vaults were damaged with at least two marble enclosures cracked, and more than 10 damaged with paint. In addition, three stained glass windows were broken, three statues were knocked over and broken, and at least a pair of bases for those statues were knocked over and broken.
The criminal complaint further alleges that approximately 72 headstones were knocked over and approximately 48 headstones had racial slurs painted on them in the cemetery’s Parkside subdivision; and racial slurs against Asians were found on the Gee Poy Kup Association’s monument and the Sze Kong Mutual Benevolent Association’s arch, as well as an Asian headstone that had more racial slurs spray painted on it and what appeared to be human feces on it.
“Even in their eternal rest the dead of Queens County cannot escape from the bigotry and hatred that brews in some people’s hearts,” Brown said in a statement. “Fortunately, working jointly with our police partners–New York City Police Department’s Hate Crime Task Force–we were able to bring to justice those accused of this heinous desecration. In Queens County, the most culturally diverse county in the nation, crimes of hate will never be tolerated and we will do all in our power to root out those responsible for such hate and prejudice.”
Evseev, Barrancos, and Camacho were arrested on Oct. 30, and were arraigned on the same day before Queens Criminal Court Judge Ushir Pandit-Durant and have each been charged with third-degree burglary as a hate crime, second-degree criminal mischief as a hate crime, first-degree cemetery desecration, first-degree aggravated harassment, and third-degree criminal trespass as a hate crime.
The judge set bail for all three at $100,000 bond/$70,000 cash, and ordered them back to court on Nov. 15.
