A man was arrested after police said he damaged a menorah outside a synagogue in Coral Springs with a shopping cart, causing an estimated $5,000 in damage.
According to an arrest report, Coral Springs Police units responded to reports of a man damaging a menorah at Chabad of Coral Springs, located at 3925 N. University Drive, late Saturday morning.
A witness told investigators that a man wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses and a black shirt was pushing a shopping cart containing a dog when he damaged the religious monument.
Rabbi Moshe Yaras from Chabad of Coral Springs said that the tall aluminum menorah has stood in front of the property for around a decade and described the damage to the structure.
“It stands here as a symbol of proud Judaism and light,” he said, “It’s an electric menorah and the top has the actual light fixtures. As you see, you can see that they were broken off, some of them are hanging off of the menorah, and some fell to the ground.”
Officers established a perimeter and searched the surrounding area before spotting a man matching the suspect’s description walking eastbound along Wiles Road with a shopping cart containing a pit bull.
Police identified the man as 44-year-old Matthew John Ryan and said he refused to comply with officers’ commands to get on the ground.
The arrest report states Ryan argued with officers, telling them, “I didn’t do anything” and “I’m in a production movie.”
Investigators said Ryan then reached into a satchel around his body despite repeated commands to stop.
Officers approached Ryan and attempted to take him into custody, but police said he continued resisting and tried to grab an officer’s Taser.
After a brief struggle, officers were able to place Ryan in handcuffs.
While in custody, Ryan told officers he believed his blood sugar was high and requested medical assistance.
He was transported to Broward Health Coral Springs, where he complained of right knee pain.
He was medically cleared before being taken to jail.
During the investigation, officers also discovered that the shopping cart Ryan had been pushing belonged to a nearby Walmart Neighborhood Market.
A store manager confirmed the cart, valued at $250, had been removed from the property without authorization. Police said Walmart wished to pursue charges.
Meanwhile, back at the religious institution, the menorah remained broken on Monday afternoon.
Yaras said that an incident like that has not happened before, and while he does not know Ryan’s motivation, he cannot rule out hate as a potential motivation.
“So whenever we are faced with any incident that is here to spread hatred and negativity, we know that we need to increase goodness and kindness within the Jewish community, outside of the Jewish community and to the Coral Springs community at large,” he said.
Ryan was arrested and charged with criminal mischief involving a church, synagogue, mosque or religious article, resisting an officer without violence and illegal possession of a shopping or laundry cart.
