Update: Vandalism, not hate crime, charged in Oakdale church incidents
Update: The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office charged Cupps with two counts of vandalism over $400 and two counts of vandalism of a church.
Original story: An Oakdale man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of a hate crime related to the vandalism of two churches.
The Oakdale Police have investigated at least six incidents of vandalism at St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Olive Street and Sierra Foothills Community Church on West F Street over the past two months, according to a press release.
The vandalism includes broken windows and repeated damage to a sprinkler system at St. Mary’s, said Lt. Andrew Stever.
William Joe Cupps, 39, was arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism, vandalizing a place of worship and hate crimes.
Cupps was arrested last year on suspicion of throwing rocks through windows at a church, as well as businesses around Oakdale.
Stever said that while he has vandalized other buildings, the majority of them were churches, which is why detectives added the hate crime charge. “He was deliberately targeting places of worship,” Stever said.
As of Friday morning, Cupps remained in Stanislaus County Jail with bail set at $150,000. He has not yet been formally charged by the District Attorney’s Office.
Anyone with information about this investigation is encouraged to contact Detective Madison Falconi at (209) 847-2231.
This story was originally published July 1, 2022 at 9:55 AM.
