Glendale woman accused of vandalizing memorial to comfort women, writing other bigoted graffiti
Glendale police suspect a 65-year-old woman is responsible for defacing a memorial dedicated to women forced into sex slavery during World War II and may be connected to other acts of vandalism in the city.
Jackie Rita Williams is being charged with felony vandalism after authorities say she used a permanent marker on Thursday to scribble all over the Korean Comfort Women Peace Monument in Glendale’s Central Park.
Police think she’s also behind several previous instances where the monument was defaced, one of which involved an unknown brown substance being smeared onto the face of the woman depicted on the statue.
“We’re still trying to figure out what her motive is behind this,” said Sgt. Dan Suttles, a Glendale Police Department spokesman.
Surveillance footage from the park shows a woman matching Williams’ description walking up to the statue and drawing on it before kicking over several nearby potted plants.
He added that Williams lives within half a mile of the statue and, when she was arrested by officers on Friday, they found her in possession of different-colored permanent markers.
She also had a warrant out at the time for a vandalism incident that took place in Pasadena.
Detectives are also investigating her possible involvement in a spate of bigoted graffiti that was scrawled onto and near several buildings along a stretch of Colorado Boulevard between Pacific Avenue and Brand Boulevard.
Suttles said the graffiti included derogatory messages written in marker targeting several minority groups.
“There was no isolated demographic. It targeted anyone and everyone — you name it,” he said.
One instance saw a wall at the Armenian-American Council on Aging defaced with the message “Death to Armenians” written in red marker, along with a reference to President Donald Trump.
In a prepared statement, Glendale Police Chief Carl Povilaitis said Williams’ suspected actions do not reflect the values of the community and that the department is dedicated to fully investigate the incident.
Williams is currently being held on $20,000 bail.
