YORK COUNTY, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — An 18-year-old is facing a slew of charges after he used a baseball bat to smash windows at four York County churches, authorities confirmed.
Julius Lazay Alston, 18, has been taken into custody and charged with multiple counts of malicious injury to a place of worship. According to records with the York County Sheriff’s Office, the crime spree happened on Sunday, Dec. 29. The four churches targeted were:
- The Good Samaritan United Methodist Church located at 5220 Crowders Cove Ln
- The Lake Wylie Christian Assembly located at 5766 Charlotte Hwy
- The Redeeming Grace Presbyterian Church located at 4800 Charlotte Hwy
- The River Hills Community Church located at 104 Hamiltons Ferry Road
Good Samaritan United Methodist Church
The church vandalism was reported around 6:30 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 29. A person across the street at an apartment complex had called 911 about a possible vehicle break-in.
As deputies arrived at the area, they heard glass breaking across the street and observed a man in a black jacket breaking the windows of a church. Additional deputies were called to the church and a K-9 unit was requested to try and apprehend the suspect.
Alston was located walking in the area of Charlotte Hwy and Latitude Ln. The sheriff’s office said he later admitted to using a baseball bat to break windows at multiple area churches.
Deputies observed ten broken windows at the church, estimating $10,000 in damages.
Lake Wylie Christian Assembly
A family member with the church called the police stating they had been one of the churches hit on Sunday. William Lewis Gunn Jr. told authorities that a total of five windows had been broken.
William stated that each window was about $1,000, totaling $5,000 in damages.
When Alston was eventually taken into custody and admitted to the crimes, he told authorities that he had been out since 2 a.m. Sunday and that “he heard voices telling him to do it,” according to a report with the York Couty Sheriff’s Office.
Redeeming Grace Presbyterian Church
Pastor Henry Beaulieu notified authorities of the church vandalism. Multiple windows were broken in the main sanctuary, offices, and nursery, the police report states.
Responding deputies also observed multiple broken windows in the building next to the sanctuary that they identified as the fellowship hall.
The pastor and multiple deacons estimated the cost of the doors to be approximately $16,000 for each set of doors, with three sets of doors being damaged.
All of the standard-sized windows were valued at approximately $500 each, and the large sanctuary windows were estimated to cost approximately $1,000 each.
The approximate cost of all damages is $54,500, the York Couty Sheriff’s Office said.
River Hills Community Church
Responding deputies observed 13 windows of the church smashed. The estimated total cost of damages is about $6,500, the sheriff’s office said. Mercy Keny, the connections pastor of the church, stated that the suspect was caught on their security camera.
Alston was being held at the York County Detention Center with his bond set at $106,375.
