Teen Accused Of Targeting ‘Kibbutz In The Catskills’ Camp 3 Times
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(JTA) — An upstate New York teen who was charged with vandalizing a Jewish camp in the Catskills area also burglarized the camp three times, police said.
Christopher Santoro, 18, appeared Wednesday in the Town of Fallsburg Justice Court, where he was charged with third-degree burglary and fourth-degree criminal mischief as a hate crime, both felonies. He was arrested in late June for vandalizing Camp Shomria in Liberty, New York, earlier in the month. Other charges were added for two burglary incidents earlier in June.
Santoro was not released on bail and remains in jail.
He vandalized the camp out of “a dislike for the religion of the owners and occupants of the camp,” according to police investigators. The State Police hate crimes unit has been involved in the investigation.
In one of the burglary incidents, he also wrote anti-Semitic graffiti on the walls of camp buildings, The Times Herald-Record reported.
The 100-year-old camp bills itself as “The Kibbutz in the Catskills.” It is run by the Hashomer Hatzair Zionist movement.
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