Unhinged man trashes Jesus statue in violent ‘outburst’ after he’s caught sleeping in NYC Catholic church
An unhinged man toppled a Jesus statue in a rampage that caused $4,000 in damages — after he was caught sleeping in a Manhattan church, cops and a parish worker said.
The apparently homeless man had been snoozing in Immaculate Conception Church in the East Village at around 11 a.m. Monday when he awoke in a rage and exploded in an “outburst of violence,” a church worker told The Post.
“He got violent and was tearing down bookcases and stuff, and he knocked a statue of Jesus over,” said the employee, who wished to remain anonymous. “So it was just really kind of scary, because it was just kind of uncontrollable, like this outburst of violence.”
The irate man was one of two apparently homeless people asleep inside the Catholic church at the time, the worker added. The vandal’s tantrum forced the faithful to have to step in, she said.
“He was throwing things around and it all happened really fast,” said the woman, who noted that the church had just wrapped up its 10 a.m. Mass, with parishioners staying behind to pray the Rosary afterwards.
Several church-goers “helped” the crazed vandal out of the front door of the church – with one man leading the charge, the church worker said.
The vandal, seen fleeing on foot toward First Avenue, had not been caught by Wednesday, police said.
His wild rampage cost about $4,000 in damage, cops estimated.
“Thank God nobody got hurt,” the worker said. “As our priest said ‘Jesus took the hit for us. He took the fall again.'”
Church staffers were “pretty shaken up” by the crime, but “thankfully, nobody got hurt and the police are gonna do a lot of extra walking around on 14th Street,” the parish employee said.
Five of the seven major crime categories are down in the NYPD’s Ninth Precinct, which covers the area of the church, the latest statistics reveal.
But felony assaults are very slightly up there, with 29 such crimes reported since January – compared to 25 during the same period last year. Also, one more robbery – 19 – was reported in the precinct’s confines so far this year compared to last year, the records show.
Still, the church worker said that there’s a general impression that the area – and the city – has become more unsafe.
“But lately, you know, the whole city has been experiencing a lot of crime right now. Like all over,” she said. “I’ve lived down here [in the East Village area] like 20 years and you can just feel it. There’s just a lot of unrest in the city.”
The vandalism comes weeks after a caretaker at the same church was viciously slashed on the neck by a box-cutter-wielding creep, the victim and cops said at the time.
The victim, identified by sources as John Mach, 54, received a lengthy gash that required 16 stitches after confronting the unidentified sicko, who was urinating between two cars on Jan. 22, authorities said.
The administrator said Wednesday she doesn’t think their church is being specifically targeted.
“It’s just a city. It’s New York, you know, and that’s just what’s going on right now,” she said. “You just gotta be extra vigilant and be careful. Look around you, and you know, it just happens.”
The crime is the latest incident of vandalism and bizarre behavior at local Catholic churches.
Four suspects decked out in heavy-metal style attire damaged a crucifix and stained glass window at St. Columba in Brooklyn late last month.
In July, an unhinged man wearing a purple priestly vestment robe and no pants vandalized a shrine to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton inside our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church in lower Manhattan, cops and witnesses said at the time.
Also over the summer, a vandal sprayed black paint – as well as the word “Fake” on a statue of the Virgin Mary outside Resurrection Church in Gerritsen Beach, police said at the time.
And in June, a crazed man destroyed a framed photo of Pope Francis at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Astoria — before spreading paint thinner on the basement floor and dressing up in a priest’s robe, the diocese said.