RICHMOND, Va. – A Richmond man has been arrested for vandalizing the Jefferson Davis monument.
Joseph Weindl, 39, of the 1700 block of Blair Street has been charged with destruction of city property, a misdemeanor.
The charge will be upgraded to a felony "when the cost of cleaning up the damage is shown to exceed $1,000," police said in a press release.
Weindl was caught by police Friday night, around 10:30 p.m., after receiving a report of vandalism in progress at the Jefferson Davis Monument in the 2500 block of Monument Avenue.
Police said the man they hope to charge for a felony for spray-painting a letter did not confess to spray-painting the phrase "Black Lives Matter" onto the Jefferson Davis statue.
Police said that by the time they arrived there was no vandalism in progress. But they discovered an “L” had been spray-painted to the granite base of the monument.
Working with descriptions of the suspect and suspect vehicle provided by a witness and evidence obtained at the scene, detectives were able to identify Weindl.
Police said that during an interview, Weindl confessed to the vandalism, of placing one spray-painted letter on the monument.
He has denied vandalizing the monument the previous night, when the phrase“Black Lives Matter” was spray-painted on the granite base of the monument.
That investigation remains open.
Anyone with information about either case is asked to call Property Crimes Detective William Cutshall at (804) 646-1068 or Crime Stoppers at 780-1000. Citizens can also text Crime Stoppers at 274637, using the key word “ITip” followed by your tip. Both Crime Stoppers methods are anonymous.
