MONTAUK, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A 74-year-old Montauk man is allegedly responsible for scrawling antisemitic graffiti in public places across the East End, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.
A joint investigation by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Suffolk County Police Department Hate Crimes Unit and the East Hampton Police Department helped in the arrest of Michael Nicholoulias, 74, officials said.
In late October, hateful graffiti targeting the Jewish community, including large swastikas, was found on picnic tables, food trucks and street signs across Ditch Plains Beach in Montauk.
“Beginning at Naturally Good Foods the defendant intentionally spray-painted multiple exterior tables, the rear door of the establishment, with a number of antisemitic phrases and symbols,” Tierney said.
Authorities used surveillance video to identify a white PT Cruiser that was near the scene of the crime during the timeframe of the vandalism, and they found only one vehicle of the same make and model registered in Montauk. It belonged to Nicoloulias.
Investigators then followed Nicholoulias until he was caught in the act, spray-painting a swastika on a bench in Montauk, where he was arrested.
At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Tierney confirmed that law enforcement had been surveilling the defendant since Nov. 10.
Tierney said that the defendant admitted to committing 14 acts of hate in the Montauk community upon apprehension, but that he has now pleaded not guilty.
Nicholoulias faces 14 charges that include aggravated harassment and criminal mischief and is expected to return to court Dec. 7.
He was released with GPS monitoring and two orders of protection, the district attorney’s office said.
One of the vandalized businesses, a health store and restaurant called Naturally Good Foods, has covered up the antisemitic rhetoric with signs of peace and love with the help of the Montauk community.
“When a certain element of the population is targeted and hateful messages are spread throughout a community it really attacks the fiber of that community,” Tierney said.