By The newspaper
06 Apr 2024, 14:02 PM EDT
Elliot Bennett was arrested on suspicion of intentionally setting fire this week to a Catholic church that he had already attacked with a hammer seven months ago in Verona, New Jersey, according to his own confessions.
A fire alarm sounded at 3:33 a.m. Thursday at Our Lady of the Lake Roman Catholic Church on Lakeside Avenue. The fire was deliberately set and had multiple points of origin, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Just an hour later Bennett, 42, went himself to the police, where he confessed and was arrested on suspicion of trying to burn down the church. He was charged with partial intimidation, robbery, aggravated arson, possession of robbery tools, desecration of venerated objects and multiple weapons-related crimes, he said. NJ.com.
It was not the first time Bennett allegedly attacked that church, as on September 1, 2023 he went to police headquarters holding a hammer and said he had just vandalized the statue of Jesus Christ outside the building.
“Bennett was immediately recognized by officers from past incidents of the same nature and confirmed the damage to the church,” a police statement at the time said. Police did not disclose any other information about those incidents prior to September 1, 2023, for which he was charged with criminal conduct.
In a message posted on its website, the church said it is possible the building could be saved after Thursday’s fire. “Fortunately, the structure appears to be in good condition, but the church is badly damaged. The parish community is heartbroken. However, we are grateful that no one was injured and have faith that we will get through this difficult time and ask the community to keep those affected in their prayers.”
Meanwhile, masses will continue to be celebrated in the school auditorium, the message added. This Church first opened in a different building in the 1920s. The current site was built in 1964 and renovated in 2002 and 2003.
In February of this year, also in New Jersey, a 19-year-old Hispanic teenager admitted to setting several fires in a span of seven days, including two cars and a historic building more than one hundred years old.
At the end of January, a 73-year-old man who suffers from mental illness was burned in Brooklyn (NYC) with gasoline by a neighbor to whom he owed $100, a debt that he had already paid, according to his sister.
In December, a landlord was charged with attempted murder and arson for allegedly setting fire to his Brooklyn rental property while a family of eight tenants, six of them children, were inside.
In October 2022, an alleged arsonist native of Guatemala was federally accused of setting fire to a spa on the Lower East Side of Manhattan (NYC) with gasoline with a 60-year-old worker inside.