A man who vandalized 14 New Jersey homes with Nazi symbols and other graffiti, and burned another one down, will spend seven years behind bars, authorities said Saturday.
Ron Carr, 35, of Manchester Township, N.J., received three concurrent sentences totaling 13.5 years for a string of antisemitic crimes he committed on June 6 and 7 of last year.
Judge Guy Ryan on Friday gave Carr seven years for the arson, five years for bias intimidation and 18 months for two counts of criminal mischief. Carr had previously pleaded guilty to all the charges.
He commenced his mayhem streak on June 6, 2023, at around 11:45 p.m. — about the same time Manchester Township police officers responded to vandalism reports and found that 14 homes had been graffitied, “some to include Nazi symbolism,” Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said Saturday.
In addition to spray-painting swastikas on some homes, Carr adorned others with red hearts and his daughters’ names, reported NJ.com.
A few hours later, at 3:11 a.m. on June 7, police received another report, this one for a house fire. That home was destroyed and three others nearby were heat-damaged, but no one was injured. The blaze also encroached into adjacent woods.
The house that burnt down was under construction for the Rivas family, who had funded their dream home by selling a restaurant business and sinking their life savings into the project, the Asbury Park Press reported at the time.
Carr set the house on fire using gasoline and a cigarette lighter, police said in an affidavit obtained by NJ.com.
Carr’s rampage occurred against a backdrop of legal battles and zoning disputes over where to place synagogues and Orthodox Jewish schools in Ocean County as Orthodox communities expand in the area, the Asbury Park Press noted.
When he was picked up by officers based on witness descriptions, Carr allegedly made “multiple antisemitic statements” during questioning, telling police he was “saving the neighborhood” from “an infestation” of Jewish residents. The hearts, he said, were because he “felt bad” for the people who aren’t Jewish, reported NJ.com, citing the affidavit.
“It’s always difficult for a defense attorney when a client that young is charged with serious crimes,” Carr’s attorney, Shane Paugh, told the outlet. “It’s my hope he’ll get the help he needs.”
With News Wire Services