Long Island father and teen son arrested after investigation into swastika drawn in school bathroom

JTA – A father and his teenage son were arrested on Wednesday after an investigation into swastika graffiti led police to search their home and find chemicals used to make explosives. 

The arrests stemmed from an investigation into swastika graffiti found in a boys’ bathroom at Syosset High School on Long Island. After police determined that a 15-year-old pupil had drawn the swastika, the Nassa County Police Department sent officers to his home. 

There, the teen told the officers about the explosive materials, according to prosecutors. He said his father had purchased the chemicals for him to build rockets. 

During the subsequent search of the home, police found “highly unstable” materials that had been combined to make explosives, including nitro-glycerine, multiple acids, oxidisers, and fuels. They began to evacuate people in adjacent homes, fearing an explosion. 

The teen was not identified by police due to his age. Francisco Sanles, 48, who was arrested at the scene, has pleaded not guilty to seven criminal counts, including criminal possession of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child. His son was charged with five counts, including criminal possession of a weapon, criminal mischief, aggravated harassment, and making graffiti. 

Swastika graffiti is relatively commonplace in schools, with the Anti-Defamation League reporting more than 400 incidents in 2024. Syosset High School itself was hit by a spate of antisemitic graffiti, including swastikas, in 2017. But it is relatively rare that incidents result in arrests. 

In an email to the school district on Wednesday night, the Syosset School District, which enrols a large number of Jewish students, said its investigation had identified the pupil for the police, and he would face “serious consequences pursuant to the District’s Code of Conduct”. 

“Antisemitism and hate speech have no place in our communities or in our schools,” the district said. “Syosset has long been proud of being a welcoming, empathetic, and inclusive community and those values remain firm. We protect those values and this community by confronting and holding accountable those who traffic in any form of hate.” 

In January, New York City Police arrested two 15-year-old boys suspected of spraying dozens of swastikas on a playground in a heavily Jewish Brooklyn neighbourhood. They charged them with aggravated harassment and criminal mischief as a hate crime.