by Tablet Staff

OZONE PARK — Police have arrested a suspect in connection with a string of thefts of religious statues from properties in Ozone Park and Howard Beach.

The NYPD confirmed to The Tablet that 47-year-old Christopher Battaglia of Ozone Park was arrested on July 20 and charged with two counts of petit larceny in connection with two of the incidents.

The spree of thefts in Howard Beach and Ozone Park angered and perplexed Catholics in the two communities and led a local councilwoman to call for stricter law enforcement penalties for the crimes.

RELATED: Spree of Religious Statue Thefts Leave Queens Residents, Officials Shocked

“People are concerned. They’re concerned that their faith is under attack,” said Phyllis Inserillo, president of the community organization Howard Beach Lindenwood Civic, told The Tablet after the most recent theft.

According to the NYPD, there were five thefts of religious statues in the Howard Beach and Ozone Park communities between June 11 and July 13.

The first incident reported to police was the June 11 theft of a St. Anthony statue that had stood outside Rockwood Park Chiropractic at 91-17 157th Ave. for more than two decades.

When the owner, Giovanni Battaglia, learned that the statue he had placed outside his Howard Beach office building had been ripped from its pedestal and stolen, he decided he would not let the thieves win.

Battaglia said he got another St. Anthony statue from his son, painted it to match the original, and returned it to the spot where the first statue had stood for more than 25 years. This time, he added a pedestal and a chain to make it harder to steal again.

Two weeks later, on June 23, a homeowner reported the theft of two statues — one of the Blessed Mother and another of St. Pedro — from the front of a home near Bristol Avenue and Hawtree Street in Ozone Park.

Someone struck Ozone Park again the following day, stealing a statue of the Blessed Mother from a property near Bristol Avenue and Centerville Street.

On July 13, police were notified of a fifth incident in which a thief removed a statue of the Blessed Mother from the front of a house in the vicinity of 159th Avenue and 98th Street.

The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force was notified of all of the incidents, officials said.

Councilwoman Joann Ariola, who is Catholic, lamented the fact that the law doesn’t appear to have any teeth when it comes to punishments for these types of crimes.

“It shouldn’t be a slap on the wrist,” she said.

This is a developing story.