Diocesan News

Church Vandal Arrested in Brooklyn

An arrest has been made in the case of the vandal who desecrated two statues in Brooklyn on the first Sunday of Advent.

Police have arrested Bushwick resident Andrew Oshesky, 28, who is believed to be the man caught on surveillance video urinating on and then pushing to the ground two angel statues outside Our Lady of Consolation Church, Williamsburg, around 4 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 2.

Oshesky has been charged with two counts of criminal mischief as a hate crime, two counts of criminal mischief in the form of property damage, aggravated harassment and urinating in public.

The arrest comes a week after local religious and political leaders came together to offer funds to replace the statues at the church, which has been vandalized three times in the last five years.

– Marie Elena Giossi