SUMTER, SC (WBTW) – Deputies with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office say they have arrested three people in connection with two November vandalism incidents that happened at two local churches.
According to a press release from Ken Bell with the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, on Nov. 25, members of Calvary Church of the Nazarene on Nazarene Church Road and Lakewood Baptist Church, also located on Nazarene Church Road, discovered the churches had been spray painted. Officers say a church van at Calvary Church of the Nazarene was also painted.
Joshua Paul Warren, 20, of Manning and another 17-year-old female have been charged with two counts of malicious injury to a place of worship and one count of malicious injury to private property.
A 16-year-old male juvenile was also arrested and has been referred to the SC Department of Juvenile Justice, Bell said.
“We are going to prosecute these crimes to the fullest extent of the law,” Sheriff Anthony Dennis said. “Church-related incidents are especially heinous because they victimize every member of the church and their families. We want to assure the public that their safety is our top priority. We will continue to patrol churches in our county, especially those is rural areas, to try to prevent future incidents such as this one.”
