3 arrested after Jewish temple confrontation were from out of state, Fresno police say
Three men arrested after their suspected involvement in a disturbance at Temple Beth Israel were identified Friday by the Fresno Police Department.
Officers went to the Jewish temple on Maroa Avenue near Herndon Avenue just before 4:30 p.m. Thursday about a disturbance and were told a van had just left the scene. Officers located the van parked a couple miles south at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church at Maroa and Bullard avenues, and detained the three men.
In an update Friday, police said all three were from out of state but did not elaborate where. They are: Christopher Avila, 32; Daniel Watson, 32; and Colin Laurila, 31.
Police said they went to Temple Beth Israel and posted homemade paper signs professing religious ideology, taping them up on the building with blue painters tape.
Employees confronted the men, asking them to stop and leave. Police said the men quoted Bible verses and questioned the employees’ beliefs.
Employees told the men to take down the paper signs before the men allegedly made threats if they did before they left, police said.
Police said Friday that prior to the incident at Temple Beth Israel, the three men were at another nearby church and had a similar confrontation with employees. That church asked police to remain anonymous and was not identified.
Avila was arrested on suspicion of criminal threats, a felony, along with posting signs on closed lands, trespassing and conspire to commit a crime, all misdemeanors. Watson and Laurila were arrested on suspicion of those same three misdemeanors.
Lt. Bill Dooley on Friday said Avila remained in Fresno County jail; Watson and Laurila bonded out.
Dooley said there was no indication the incident was a hate crime and that the men were professing their religious beliefs.
The three men were traveling through California. Their van and a motorcycle were towed.
Police continued to investigate the incident to determine if any other churches or businesses were contacted by the men.
