Phila. Police Investigate Shocking Hate Crime
Police are investigating a shocking hate crime that was uncovered inside a South Philadelphia row home.
The victim spent thousands of dollars to renovate and sell his old apartment only to find paint splattered over brand new hardwood floors and racial epithets carved into the walls.
"The racial thing is not something that is part of this neighborhood, I have been in this neighborhood 11 years and never had an incident," said the victim, who asked not to be identified.
A swastika was carved into the victim's downstairs walls and in an upstairs bedroom, a wall carving spelt out the "F" and "N" words. And on another wall, a vandal wrote the words "F Obama." The victim is an African-American male.
"I am actually not a Barack Obama supporter," the victim explained.
The disturbing discovery prompted Philadelphia Police to launch a hate crimes investigation.
The property owner told CBS 3 that he was not offended, but said his friends in the neighborhood near 11th and Bainbridge are disgusted by the discovery.
"There's a lot of families, good people living around here, so I am kind of surprised about that," neighbor Andrew Riley said.
The victim also discovered a brand new dishwasher destroyed, a security alarm box placed in the oven and was left with thousands of dollars in damage.
"Nothing is going to change, I am not going to move, try to get back at anyone," the victim said.
So far, police do not have any suspects in this heinous crime.