Man to Serve 6 Months, Donate $5,000 to NAACP in Hate Crimes
A Westchester man who terrorized neighbors by leaving tar, nails and racist pamphlets in their yards has been sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to undergo counseling and donate $5,000 to the NAACP.
Daniel Allen Vanbogaert, 52, faced victims of his nine-month hate campaign at his sentencing Thursday at West Los Angeles Municipal Court. The campaign had targeted black neighbors and Anglo families with black friends.
Vanbogaert was convicted of two counts of committing a hate crime by intimidation, committing a hate crime causing property damage, vandalism and three counts of stalking.
The charges stem from 39 incidents in which anti-black racist pamphlets were tossed into yards, and nails and tar were thrown on driveways between October 1995 and last July. Orange paint balls were also fired at homes, and racist pamphlets found at a nearby middle school.
Vanbogaert was arrested after police installed a surveillance video camera in a victim’s home. A man was captured on film passing the house several times and tossing racist pamphlets in the yard, spitting on the lawn and throwing nails on the driveway.
Police identified the man as Vanbogaert, who had applied to the Pacific Division to become a Neighborhood Watch block commander.
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