Swastika painted in Franklin Square store

A well-known supermarket on Dogwood Avenue in Franklin Square was the scene of vandalism early last week, when two teenagers painted a swastika on a bathroom stall with black spray paint.

The Best Yet supermarket, in a shopping center at 696 Dogwood Ave., is a favorite of local residents and serves much of Franklin Square, West Hempstead and Elmont. On March 30, two teenagers walked in and asked the customer service manager if they could use the bathroom on the store’s second floor.

According to night manager Josh Miller, when an employee went upstairs to check on the two, he smelled a familiar chemical odor coming from the bathroom and saw the two teens walking away quickly. “He saw the two kids coming down the stairs and he smelled the spray paint,” Miller said. “Then he could see through the door that they had painted a swastika on the bathroom stall, on the outside.”

Miller, a three-year employee at the store, said that his co-worker shouted down the stairs for someone to stop the alleged vandals, and he immediately ran out the store’s front door and went after them. Miller and the store’s customer service manager chased the two teenagers, who took off running down Dogwood Avenue. Miller caught one of them, a 15-year-old whose name has not been released by police.

Detectives said that the boy had several cans of spray paint in his possession when he was arrested.

Miller said the teenager didn’t say much of anything after he caught up with him, other than some quick denials that he had done anything wrong — which rapidly evaporated once the police arrived.

According to detectives with the 5th Precinct, the second suspect, 17-year-old Walter Canteel of Franklin Square, was arrested a short time later at his home.

Miller said he hasn’t heard any other store managers or owners in the area talking about an increase in vandalism nearby, but added that he was afraid the swastika might have something to do with Passover. “This is a very Jewish community around here — it kind of does tie into the whole Passover holiday,” Miller said. “It’s possible that it could have been all tied into that.”

The West Hempstead Jewish Community Center, a popular synagogue and meeting place, is directly across the street from the shopping center.

Miller said that while he was surprised by the incident, he was more shocked by the seeming hateful message of it. “This is the first time I’ve seen anything like that around here,” he said. “I was pretty surprised. That image is particularly offensive.”

Canteel was charged with aggravated harassment. He was given a desk appearance ticket and is scheduled to be arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on April 22. Police did not release information on any charges filed against the 15-year-old suspect.

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