Police probe possible hate crime over graffiti outside London school

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A 41-year-old London man is facing charges of mischief and causing a disturbance after a school was vandalized.

London police say that on Saturday at around noon, a man was seen screaming and shouting in the area of Hawthorne Road and Blackacres Boulevard. That’s in northwest London, near the Wonderland Road-Gainsborough Road intersection.

The man went to a school on Hawthorne, and spray-painted “hate-related phrases and messaging” on both the building and surrounding sidewalk, police say. Neighbouring residents who saw the vandalism contacted police, and a man was arrested nearby.

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Police say that the investigation has been reassigned to the hate crime investigator.

Mariusz Christopher Grabarczyk, 41, is expected to appear in London court on Sept. 10.

A post on social media by longtime London writer Carmi Levy showed an image of anti-semitic messaging scrawled on the sidewalk, apparently located at Emily Carr public school on Hawthorne Road.

A spokesperson for the Thames Valley District School Board confirmed that the incident took place at Emily Carr.

In a statement to The London Free Press, Purveen Skinner, superintendent of student achievement, said that the hate-related messaging has been removed from school property. But as of noon on Tuesday, when a Free Press journalist was at the school, the graffiti was still there.

“Thames Valley strongly condemns these acts of hate and will continue to work with Police to prioritize the safety and well-being of all Thames Valley students and staff,” Skinner said.

Two charged after London police nab fleeing break-in suspects

A man and a woman are facing several charges after a break and enter in London’s south end Monday morning.

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Police were called about 7 a.m. to the reported intrusion in the the 3000 block of White Oak Road. They were told the home had been broken into Sunday evening and that the same suspects had returned, with one person believed to have a handgun, London police say.

Descriptions of the suspects were provided to police and a vehicle was stopped in a nearby parking lot, where police say a man tried to flee on foot before both he and the driver were arrested.

Police said they were told a woman had fled from the same vehicle before officers arrived, and – with the help of a police dog team – a suspect was located in the area of Wharncliffe Road South and Belmont Drive.

A search of the suspects found suspected methamphetamine and property belonging to the homeowner on White Oak Road, police say. No handgun was found and no injuries reported.

The  vehicle driver was released unconditionally, but a 40-year-old Londoner and a 39-year-old Kettle Point resident are jointly charged with illegal drug possession and possession of property obtained by crime.

The Londoner also faces an additional charge of break and enter.

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