When Jesus Jose Arellano was charged with damaging an image of Christ at Grace Moravian Church in Mount Airy late last month, it was not his first brush with the law.
In addition to being accused of injury to real property stemming from the vandalism of a stained-glass window at the church using a large flat stone, Arellano, 28, of 115 Square St., is facing a long list of other charges. Surry County court records list 14 violations altogether of both a criminal and traffic nature for which trial dates are pending.
These include two felonies, larceny of a motor vehicle and possession of stolen goods/property.
Court records show Arellano also is facing charges of fleeing/eluding arrest with a motor vehicle, failing to heed a light or siren, resisting a public officer, injury to personal property, leaving a vehicle unattended/unsecured, driving while impaired, three counts of driving while license revoked, speeding and failing to wear a seat belt.
Arellano is being held in the Surry County Jail under a large secured bond. He is facing multiple court appearances later this month and in July, including one on July 27 for the injury to real property incident involving Grace Moravian Church.
It occurred during the night of May 18, when the large stained-glass window on the porch of the sanctuary facing North Main Street was smashed by repeated blows from the rock.
The window contains a double image of Jesus the Good Shepherd which is visible from both the street and the inside of the church where services are held. Both sides were damaged — leaving shards of glass and debris scattered more than 20 feet into the sanctuary, and a repair job estimated at $10,000.
Grace Moravian Pastor Neil Routh has said he was struck not only by the senselessness of such an act but the apparent violence exhibited toward the image of Christ, a fixture at the church since its construction in 1925.
The type of rock used — which is employed in landscaping and the construction of retaining walls — proved to be a key for Mount Airy police in linking the crime to Arellano, according to Capt. Barry VanHoy.
Arellano was spotted in the area of Grace Moravian Church the night the vandalism occurred, at Oakdale Cemetery across the street. He was encountered there during a suspicious-person investigation by police in the early morning hours of May 19.
“He had some of the same rocks used to break the window,” VanHoy said in relaying arrest information from those officers.
After Arellano was located in the graveyard, they learned that he was the subject of two outstanding orders for arrest for failing to appear in court which had been issued on March 4. This led to Arellano being jailed under a $30,000 secured bond.
In the meantime, the church vandalism was reported to police.
“And they figured out who it was,” VanHoy said of officers being able to piece together Arellano’s alleged involvement in that incident through the encounter at the cemetery.
Arellano subsequently was interviewed in the jail about the crime at the church. “And he confessed,” VanHoy said.
A warrant for the injury to real property charge was drawn by Sgt. J.W. Watson of the Mount Airy Police Department on May 21 and served on Arellano at the jail by county authorities. That resulted in details about his involvement in the church vandalism not being available through normal city police reporting channels.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com