Cross burning terrifies Arroyo Grande family
March 18, 2011
A mother is terrified after finding a cross burning outside her 19-year-old African American daughter’s bedroom window in Arroyo Grande at about 12:30 a.m. on Friday.
Hearing banging and fearing someone was breaking into her car, the daughter went out onto the porch to look around. When she saw no one, she went back into her bedroom, got into her bed and turned out the light.
A few moments later, directly in view of her bed, she saw an 11-foot cross fully engulfed in flames.
The family, which has lived in the area for 10 years, is not being named to protect their privacy.
The cross had been stolen from St. John’s Lutheran Church in Arroyo Grande on March 1. The cross, originally hand made for a production of Jesus Christ Superstar, was bolted down in the church parking lot before it was stolen.
Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime.
Arroyo Grande Police Chief Steven Annibali personally went by the victims’ home providing his cell number for the victims to call, after 911, if another incident occurs.
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