NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — New Smyrna Beach police charged a Volusia County man with a hate crime after they say he painted racist graffiti on two cars in the Venitian Bay neighborhood in July.
According to a police report the victim was leaving for work when a neighbor told him someone had painted racist graffiti on his pickup and left nails under his tires.
A woman whose car was also vandalized told police she had received several threatening messages on Facebook days earlier but didn’t recognize the person who sent them.
Police arrested 33-year-old Kyle Christiansen at a home in Daytona Beach Friday.
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During the investigation detectives were able to identify a car belonging to a relative of Chistiansen from surveillance video.
According to a police report detectives were able to then connect the Facebook messages to a fake account started by Christiansen after getting a search warrant.
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Detectives believe Christiansen may have targeted the family over some issues he had with the Philippine government.
Christiansen was booked into the Volusia County jail on a $10,000 bond.
WFTV