FORT SMITH -- Two men have been arrested and jailed on charges they vandalized two mosques.
Abraham Davis, 20, and Craig Wigginton, 19, both of Fort Smith, were being held in the Sebastian County jail Tuesday in lieu of $15,000 bond each on charges of first-degree criminal mischief, a felony. Filing of formal charges was pending Tuesday, according to a news release.
Fort Smith police spokesman Sgt. Daniel Grubbs said police were seeking a third person in the vandalism case. Ezra Pedraza of Barling was listed as a third suspect in the vandalism with Wigginton and Davis.
Grubbs said detectives interviewed Wigginton and Davis about the vandalism and arrested them following the interview.
The two men were arrested in connection with the Oct. 20 vandalism of the Majid Al Salam mosque at 8501 South 28th St. Grubbs wrote a second mosque at 1800 South Albert Pike Ave. also was vandalized that night. One wall was spray-painted similar to that found at the Majid Al Salam mosque.
A member of the Majid Al Salam mosque told the police officer investigating the call someone had written and spray-painted on three windows, a garage door and three signs.
"The messages were anti Islamic and vulgar in nature," the report said. "The damage was estimated to be around $1,000."
Police recovered security video that showed two persons standing out by the roadway while a third approached the building and appeared to have done most, if not all, of the graffiti, according to the police report.
The vandals arrived at the mosque after 1:30 a.m. Oct. 20, according to the report.
Updated information on the report said warrants were issued Friday for Davis and Wigginton. Wigginton was arrested Friday at work and Davis was arrested Sunday.
NW News on 02/22/2017