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SOUTH SALT LAKE — Police from two cities are investigating possible hate crimes after swastikas were spray painted on two businesses who have owners of Middle Eastern origin.
About 11:20 p.m. Monday, someone spray painted a swastika on the window of Middle Eastern Pastries, 3336 S. Main, as well as a "messed up swastika" on the front, glass door and the number "3" underneath it, said South Salt Lake police detective Gary Keller.
"We are investigating this as a hate crime due to the swastika, (and) due to the ethnicity of the people involved," Keller said Thursday.
The vandalism was discovered just before 9 a.m. Tuesday. Surveillance video recorded Monday night shows a man dressed in a dark coat, a hoodie and a baseball cap walk up to the business with spray paint in his hand, he said.
The bakery has not had any prior threats, Keller said. The owner of the business is of Middle Eastern descent, but Keller did not know Thursday from what country nor the man's religion. He said police were still investigating what the "3" might stand for or how it was intended to be used.
About 9 a.m. Thursday, another man at a workshop for a car dealership, 219 E. Central Ave. (4105 South), called Unified police to report a swastika had been spray painted on the door and also on a side panel of the building, said Unified Police Lt. Lex Bell.
But since that initial report, Bell said the man, who is a native of Iraq, had not called police back and had reportedly cleaned up the graffiti before detectives had a chance to look at it. As of Thursday, Bell said the case was being investigated as a vandalism until it could be determined who was responsible and what their intention was for using a swastika.
Although Unified police weren't prepared to call their incident a possible hate crime on Thursday, Bell said the Metro Gang Unit would be investigating as a precaution.
Police were also trying to determine if the two incidents were connected, or whether the two businesses had any ties to each other, Keller said.
Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to call South Salt Lake police at 801-840-4000, or Unified police at 801-743-7000.
Contributing: Keith McCord
