Surveillance video: Man arrested for defacing 9/11 memorial in Brooklyn
More fire news from FireCritic.com
Barry Paddock, New York Daily News:
Police are questioning a suspect in the vandalism of a Brooklyn 9/11 memorial to fallen first responders, officials said Saturday.
The nutjob smeared white paint over the name of Police Officer Moira Smith and circled her image on MCU Park’s Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance in Coney Island about 2:35 p.m. Friday.
“I had no idea what was going on,” said Jim Smith, a retired police officer who was married to Moira Smith.
Police have arrested Elliot Baez, 58, and charged him with criminal mischief for smearing white paint on the Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance at Coney Island MCU’s Park (the home of the Cyclones). You can see video of the suspect below.
The memorial features the names and images of 346 FDNY firefighters, 37 Port Authority officers, 23 NYPD officers, and a K-9 rescue dog. Local politicians and family members of those people featured on the memorial were outraged at the crime.
The arrest came after police released surveillance video they say recorded the man walking near the Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance at the MCU Park stadium in Coney Island early Friday. The video was taken shortly after the man smeared white paint on the memorial, according to the NYPD. Police initially identified the suspect in the video as a woman.
The Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance is made up of three granite slabs bearing the laser-engraved images of first responders who died in the 9/11 attacks.
