Police have arrested a suspect in their investigation into antisemitic vandalism at the Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue and the mural dedicated to missing and murdered indigenous women, according to the Chico Police Department.
On Thursday, investigators identified 36-year-old Thomas Bona as a person of interest in the crimes.
Police said officers at the Chico State Police Department contacted Bona in the lobby of a building on campus on Friday after receiving complaints about his behavior. Officers said Bona is not a Chico State student.
Officers said investigators with the Chico Police Department contacted Bona and obtained evidence and statements that gave them probable cause to arrest him for the hate crimes at the synagogue and mural.
He was arrested and booked into the Butte County Jail on charges of hate crimes, arson, vandalism and violation of the terms of Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS).
The police department began investigating the vandalism of the Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue when officers found someone burned a sign in front of the synagogue and drew swastikas on the sign.
On Wednesday, Action News Now reported about vandalism to a mural by artist Shane Grammer that brings attention to Native American girls and boys disappearing into sex trafficking.
On Thursday, we reached out to Grammer to alert him about the vandalism to the synagogue. He then filed a police report, prompting the police department to begin an investigation into the antisemitic vandalism of his mural.
According to the Chico Police Portal, Bona was arrested twice last month. On Oct. 7, he was arrested on Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway for vandalism. On Oct. 27, he was arrested at Salem and West 1st Street for a PRCS violation.
In early 2021, Bona was sentenced to six years in state prison for felony vandalism with hate crime allegations and four misdemeanor counts of vandalism with two counts of violating civil rights.
Bona was convicted of making white power symbols at a minority-owned gas station in April 2019. The next month, he was seen marking a wall on Orange Street with symbols of unknown meanings, according to District Attorney Mike Ramsey.
Bona was convicted of yelling racial slurs at a man in a car, kicking a dent into the driver’s side and then carving a swastika on the hood of the man’s car in June 2019.
In June 2020, Bona was recorded marking multiple swastikas at the Chico City Plaza, where people gathered for a George Floyd protest, according to Ramsey.
Ramsey said Bona was twice declared incompetent to stand trial and proceedings were suspended.
During the sentencing in 2021, Ramsey said the judge noted that Bona will have access to mental health services while serving time in prison. He said Bona would be subject to earlier release if he engages in treatment.
Ramsey said Bona would be in court on Nov. 7 if the police department sends over its reports and there is enough evidence.
