San Carlos Synagogue May Sue Over Racist Vandalism

Officials at a San Carlos synagogue that was spray-painted with swastikas and racist graffiti may pursue legal action against the parents of five 16-year-olds arrested in the case, a rabbi at the temple said Thursday.

“We’re now consulting with attorneys,” said Associate Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal. “I’m not prepared to comment further. It depends on the action taken by the district attorney. There was extensive damage done to the temple. It’s clear someone has to pay for the damage, and it won’t be us.”

Meanwhile, an 18-year-old man was interviewed by police for three hours Thursday morning in connection with the case, but he was released after authorities concluded he did not play a direct role in the incident.

“Our feeling was that he was at the scene but did not participate in the actual crime,” San Diego police spokesman Dave Cohen said. “He showed up after the others. Based on what we learned from him, we’re still looking for a sixth juvenile, another male.”

Police said the desecration of the Tifereth Israel Synagogue, on Cowles Mountain Boulevard in San Carlos, occurred about 2 a.m. Sunday. Swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans were painted on the temple and a house in the residential neighborhood. The five youths were arrested Monday and charged with felony vandalism of a place of worship.

“The fact that these kids were insensitive to a religious community is inconceivable,” Rabbi Rosenthal said. “A 16-year-old is not a child.”

Police said the youths bore the look of Skinheads, loosely connected neo-Nazis who favor shaved heads, “burr” haircuts, tattoos and leather. Three of the teen-agers, all girls, attend University of San Diego High School. The two boys arrested attend Mark Twain Junior-Senior High School, next door to USD High.

The case will soon be referred to the district attorney’s office for prosecution in Juvenile Court.