>Two teens, 20-year-old arrested for vandalizing cemetery
Thanks to an anonymous tip, Scottsburg police were able to arrest three people in connection with the recent vandalism at the Scottsburg Cemetery.
On Tuesday afternoon, Matthew Terry, 20, Angeliquca Tompkins, 19, both of Salem, Indiana, and a female juvenile, 16-year-old girl were arrested and charged with criminal mischief and trespassing.
Police say for unknown reasons the trio spray-painted profanity and anti-Semetic messages on three headstones. One of the headstones belonged to the Jewish grandparents of Jarin Gladstein.
Gladstein said he was made aware of the hateful message spray-painted on his grandparents' headstone Monday afternoon after a friend noticed it while visiting the cemetery. The vandal's act, he said, was not only cruel but infuriating.
"They donated to the school, athletics and stuff. They helped everybody. That's all they did. They were good to everyone they came across," he said of his grandparents.
Gerald Green, whose family is buried in the cemetery, called the trio's crimes deplorable.
"It's bad, terrible people who would do that. We got all kinds of people out there and a lot of them don't have respect for anything," Green said.
He had made the 40-minute drive to the cemetery Tuesday to make sure the headstones belonging to his parents, brother and sister were untouched.
He was relieved to find that was the case. "It would have really made me mad." he said. "It's OK. Everything looks good."
The white spray paint on the Gladstein stone and two others has now been cleaned off. But even with arrests, Gladstein wants to know why it happened.
"I think it was more of vandalism than a hate crime but there's obviously some type of hate based on what they've written," he said.
Matthew Terry and Angeliquca Tompkins are being held at the Scott County Jail. The juvenile has been released to her parents.
