A suspect in the vandalism of the Islamic Center of Bloomington has been arrested by the Bloomington Police Department, according to BPD Capt. Ryan Pedigo. The arrest took place outside the Shalom Center early Thursday morning.
Police suspected Adam L. Walls, 32-years-old, of the vandalism after an officer recognized him from the surveillance video, said Pedigo. A person caught on video smashed toys, tables, twisted and tore up a steel fence, and partially destroyed an HVAC unit. The suspect can be seen destroying the wiring, which caused an electrical arc, late Sunday into Monday morning.
Indiana does not have a hate crime law: https://apnews.com/article/939de847d4cf4d4086048b0c74170496
Bloomington Police Department Capt. Ryan Pedigo released the following information to the media Thursday:
“Bloomington Police Arrest Islamic Center Vandal
The Bloomington Police Department arrested a man early this morning for a recent act of vandalism at the Islamic Center of Bloomington.
Adam L. Walls, 32, transient, has been arrested and preliminarily charged with Institutional Criminal Mischief, level 6 felony.
On October 18th at approximately 6:40 a.m., an officer responded to the Islamic Center of Bloomington, located in the 1900 block of E Atwater Avenue, for a report of prior vandalism. The responding officer spoke to the President of the Center, who stated that he had been able to review video surveillance footage. The footage showed what appeared to be a white male with short hair and layered clothing entering the playground area of the Center at approximately 1:13 a.m. on October 18th. The man could be seen in the footage damaging several picnic tables and dumping trash cans over. He also broke sections of the metal fencing around the playground. Further, the man damaged an air conditioning unit by pulling wires from it, broke one of the security cameras that points towards the playground, and broke several toys that were in the playground prior to leaving the area around 2:00 a.m.
Photographs of the suspect were disseminated to local media outlets on October 19th in an effort to seek assistance from the community in identifying the man. An officer of BPD reviewed the footage and provided the investigating detective with a possible identity of the suspect being Adam Walls, as the officer was familiar with Walls from previous calls for service. Detectives therefore began attempting to find Walls for an interview and located him in the early morning hours of October 21st near the Shalom Center in the 600 block of S Walnut Street. After interview, Adam Walls was transported to the Monroe County Jail and remanded to jail custody for the charge of Institutional Criminal Mischief, a level 6 felony.
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Under Indiana law, criminal charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Attached is a booking photo of Adam L. Walls courtesy of the Monroe County Jail.”
