Suspect arrested in vandalism of Beverly Hills synagogue deemed a hate crime

BEVERLY HILLS (KABC) -- Beverly Hills police have arrested a 24-year-old Pennsylvania man in the vandalism of an Iranian-Jewish synagogue and the destruction of several religious relics.

Anton Nathaniel Redding, 24, of Millersville, Penn., was identified as a suspect on Tuesday and then tracked down to Hawaii. Detectives found him in Kona and took him into custody.

Redding is being held without bail in Hawaii awaiting extradition to California.

"I said we would catch this guy and we did," Beverly Hills Mayor John Mirisch said. "The criminal who we believe desecrated a holy place on Shabbat is now in custody thanks to the superb work of the Beverly Hills Police Department."

The break-in happened around 2 a.m. Saturday at the Nessah synagogue on Rexford Drive, according to the Beverly Hills Police Department. The synagogue was closed for the rest of the Sabbath and was expected to open back up on Sunday.

Several rooms inside the building were ransacked and several Jewish relics were damaged but the outside of the building didn't suffer any severe damage. Police added that no markings or other signs of anti-Semitism were left by the suspect who was captured on security footage but it would still be investigated as a hate crime.

Anyone with additional information with is asked to contact Beverly Hills police at (310) 285-2125.