GLENDALE - A Glendale man who police say smashed a monument outside an Armenian church, causing $80,000 in damage, has been charged with a hate crime.
Los Angeles County prosecutors amended the vandalism charges against 23-year-old Victor Petrescu at the request of Glendale Police Chief Ron De Pompa.
Petrescu was arrested Tuesday in Glendale after he allegedly used a sledgehammer to chip a stone monument outside St. Mary's Armenian Apostolic Church.
Police say he told them he was heeding a Biblical injunction to destroy sacred pillars.
