Brookhaven police detectives on Monday charged a man with burglary and vandalism of the campaign headquarters of a candidate vying for a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives, Maj. Brandon Gurley said.
Solomon Danziger, 34, of Chamblee, has been charged with with the break-in and vandalizing of Catherine Bernard’s campaign headquarters at Nuts ‘N Berries in Brookhaven, Gurley said.
Bernard’s campaign headquarters is located upstairs at that business. Bernard is running for the District 80 seat. Danzinger is also charged with with burglary and vandalism of the business, according to Gurley.
Bernard is competing in a special election to fill a vacancy created by the appointment last month of state Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-Brookhaven, as a DeKalb State Court judge by Gov. Nathan Deal.
Four attorneys are competing for the seat. Bernard, a Republican who opposed Brookhaven’s redevelopment powers referendum; Taylor Bennett, a Democrat and a former Georgia Tech quarterback; Loren Collins, a Republican and a previous write-in candidate for Congress; and J. Max Davis, a Republican and the former mayor of Brookhaven.
So far, political skulduggery is not a suspected motive for the crime. Detectives found office supplies and electronics staged in the business “as if they were going to be taken from the business,” Gurley said.
“Detectives have not found any evidence or reason to believe that this incident was politically motivated,” Gurley said in an email. “Various symbols and drawings were made throughout the building using paint,” he said.
Detectives are also trying to determine whether Danziger is responsible for similar acts of vandalism at nearby businesses, Gurley said.
Bernard said she was “shocked” by the burglary.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a break-in here before,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It’s a very quiet, nice building. A lovely neighborhood.”
She and her staff were “still trying to assess the damage, but the place has been trashed,” Bernard said.
“Everything is thrown around, our volunteers’ materials that they had left here, our campaign materials,” she said. ” It looks like there’s just a tremendous amount of damage.”
— Staff photographer John Spink contributed to this article.
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