Stained-glass window broken at Castro Catholic church

  • by John Ferrannini, Assistant Editor
  • Friday September 25, 2020
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Boards protect a broken stained-glass window at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in the Castro. Photo: Courtesy Facebook
Boards protect a broken stained-glass window at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in the Castro. Photo: Courtesy Facebook

Windows, including a stained-glass one, were broken at Most Holy Redeemer Roman Catholic Church in the Castro neighborhood September 19.

San Francisco Police responded to a vandalism call that evening at 7:39 p.m.

"Officers arrived on scene and met with the person who called the police and stated that they witnessed a person throw rocks at the church's stained-glass window, which caused property damage," San Francisco Police Department Public Information Officer Robert Rueca stated to the Bay Area Reporter. "The suspect was located, arrested, and was booked for felony vandalism."

David Alexander Samarand, 29, was arrested on suspicion of the vandalism, police stated in a subsequent email.

Mike Poma, who works as an administrator of the parish, posted on Facebook that the broken windows "will be very expensive to repair."

"Our front window is original to the church, built in 1900," Poma wrote. He stated that the church, nationally-known as a haven for LGBTQ Catholics, will pay for it through an insurance claim.

Poma and Most Holy Redeemer did not respond to requests for comment.

As the B.A.R. reported September 24, petty crime — window-breaking and vandalism in particular — have been plaguing the Castro in recent months.

The B.A.R. will update this story as more information becomes available.

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