A Wheeling man is charged in DuPage County with felony hate crime and institutional vandalism after allegedly spray painting swastikas on a church in Elmhurst.
Josef Stumpfoll, 35, painted seven swastikas on the windows of Pathway Community Church, 586 N. Michigan St., around midnight Friday then left the scene, the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office said.
He allegedly is a former member of the church and targeted the location, Elmhurst police Chief Michael McLean said.
Stumpfoll was arrested at his home in Wheeling, prosecutors said.
A judge set his bail at $100,000. Stumpfoll would need to pay $10,000 to be released from jail ahead of trial.
An audit released last year by the Anti-Defamation League found that cases of anti-Semitic hate have risen to historic levels in Illinois and across the country.
Last month, a Naperville man was charged with hate crime after allegedly affixing swastika stickers to a then-DuPage County Board candidate’s campaign sign.
In November, several graves at Congregation Am Echod Jewish Cemetery in north suburban Waukegan were desecrated with swastikas. No arrests have been reported in that incident.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire & Chicago Sun-Times 2023. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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