Editor’s note: This story was updated on April 10, 2025
ASTORIA — Police have made an arrest of a suspect who walked into Immaculate Conception Church in Astoria and smashed a statue of the Baby Jesus following Mass on April 6.
Jose Rodriguez, 38, of Astoria was arrested on April 9 and charged with multiple counts, including burglary as a hate crime and aggravated harassment.
Police said Rodriguez entered the church, located at 21-47 29th St., at approximately 1:05 p.m. and smacked a religious statue to the floor, causing it to break into pieces. The suspect then left the church and fled the scene on a bicycle, police said.
Msgr. Fernando Ferrarese, the pastor of Immaculate Conception Church, said a man arrived at the conclusion of the noon Spanish-language Mass and approached a priest who was talking to parishioners on the sidewalk outside the church.
“The priest who did the Mass was outside greeting the people, and this young man came on a Citi Bike and stopped there and went up to the priest and said just one word, ‘Die,’ ” Msgr. Ferrarese said.
The intruder then entered the church and walked up to the altar area, where a deacon was blessing a statue of the Baby Jesus that a woman had brought to church to be blessed, Msgr. Ferrarese said.
“The deacon was in the process of blessing [the statue],” Msgr. Ferrarese said. “It had been placed on the altar rail, and this young man came up to where the deacon was blessing the statue and hit the statue off the altar rail. It crashed to the floor and broke.”
The deacon tried to hold the man there, but he got away and left the church through a side door and fled the scene on a Citi Bike. No one was injured in the incident.
Police from the 114th Precinct responded to a 911 call from a parishioner and questioned witnesses.
Rodriguez was arrested in Queens at around 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 9. He was charged with the following offenses: aggravated harassment in the first degree, aggravated harassment in the second degree, burglary as a hate crime in the third degree, burglary in the third degree, criminal mischief as a hate crime in the fourth degree and criminal mischief in the fourth degree.
According to Msgr. Ferrarese, the man who smashed the statue is the same man who came into the church on April 1, and spat into a Holy Water font.
If he could speak to the suspect, “I would want to know why (he’s) so angry,” Msgr. Ferrarese said.
“The spitting in the holy water font, the breaking of the statue of Baby Jesus, the going up to the priest and saying the word ‘die,’ speaks of someone who is very, very angry,” he added.
As for the parishioner whose statue was smashed, she was upset about the incident but was also undaunted, according to Msgr. Ferrarese — “She said she’ll buy another statue.”