A 19-year-old is behind bars after authorities said he caused up to $100,000 worth of damage at a Forsyth County church early Monday morning.
The vandalism occurred sometime before 2:30 a.m. at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church on James Burgess Road, Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Stacie Miller said.
A deputy patrolling the parking lot became suspicious after seeing a man’s silhouette in front of one of the office trailers behind the sanctuary, authorities said.
As the deputy drove closer to the trailers, he noticed someone quickly shut off a light inside. He also noticed that several windows of the office trailer had been broken out.
Before they could enter the trailers to investigate, deputies saw the man leave one of the buildings and run across the property into some woods, authorities said. After a brief chase, deputies arrested 19-year-old Banks Chancellor of Suwanee.
Father Tripp Norris said Wednesday he wasn’t sure what prompted the vandalism, but he estimates the damage will cost between $50,000 and $100,000 to repair.
Some of the vandalized trailers served as Sunday school classrooms for the congregation’s youngest members, he said.
“A lot of the things that were destroyed, the contractor will take care of,” Norris said. “But a lot of the classwork that was destroyed was made by hand and collected over the years. There’s not a lot of financial value to it, but we’ll have to make that stuff again.”
Several computers were damaged during the overnight vandalism spree and a dehumidifier was thrown all the way through one wall, Norris said. Glue, bleach and some type of flammable liquid had also been poured over garments used during the church’s worship services.
Investigators discovered a trail of accelerant that led from the trailers to the exterior doors of the church, according to the priest. Fortunately, deputies arrived and arrested the suspect before anything was ignited. The church was not damaged at all.
“It could have been substantially worse,” Norris said.
The good news, Norris said, is that with the school shut down, the church will have time to make repairs and get the classrooms in order before students return in the fall.
It’s unclear whether St. Columba would have been able to host its vacation Bible school this summer amid the coronavirus pandemic, but those plans are off now regardless.
“We were still trying to figure out if there might be a way depending on how things go in the state, but now it’s a given that we won’t even try,” Norris said.
Chancellor faces three felony charges and a misdemeanor in connection with the incident, including second-degree burglary, vandalism to a place of worship, first-degree criminal damage to property and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.
He remains held at the Forsyth County Jail on a $23,505 bond, online records show.
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