Man arrested in L.A. for synagogue bomb threats, vandalism

(JTA) — The man arrested in connection with fake bomb threats made against a Los Angeles synagogue was also charged with vandalizing it earlier this month. Several bomb threats against the Wilshire Boulevard Temple were called in to the Los Angeles Police Department Tuesday morning. One call said that there was a bomb planted in a car at an intersection near the synagogue.

Police investigated the threats and blew up a suspicious package left in a car adjacent to the synagogue, but the package was found not to contain explosives.

Wan Ryung Song, also known as Patrick Song, 46, was arrested later on Tuesday. Song is a naturalized U.S. citizen from South Korea.

Song was charged with four counts of making a bomb threat, one count of vandalism at a house of worship and one count of a hate crime, according to the LA Times. His arrest was based largely on video footage from the synagogue’s surveillance cameras. He reportedly made all the bomb threat calls to police from the same pay phone located near the synagogue.

The synagogue, known as the oldest in Los Angeles, was vandalized on Dec. 6 with a swastika and anti-Semitic graffiti.