Police arrest suspect in hate incident at Roseville center for kids with Down syndrome
Officers have arrested a man accused of vandalizing a Roseville center for children with Down syndrome days after its grand opening in late May.
Investigators a few weeks ago identified Alfred Busby, 49, as the suspect in the vandalism at GiGi’s Playhouse, a national nonprofit, said Rob Baquera, a spokesman for the Roseville Police Department. The incident at Gigi’s Playhouse was investigated as a hate crime.
Baquera said Roseville police obtained a warrant for Busby, who was arrested on an unrelated charge over the weekend in Sacramento County.
Busby remained in custody at the Sacramento County Jail on Monday afternoon after he was arrested by the Citrus Heights Police Department on a misdemeanor drug possession charge. He was booked at the jail Sunday morning.
Placer Superior Court records show a warrant for Busby’s arrest was issued Thursday on felony charges of committing a civil-rights violation by causing property damage and committing vandalism causing more than $400 in damage.
Gigi’s Playhouse opened its Sacramento-area achievement center May 16 at a shopping center along Douglas Boulevard just east of Interstate 80.
Less than a week later, on May 21, large posters were defaced on the center’s storefront and side windows — which contained photos of local children with Down syndrome — with offensive and hateful language written in black marker, the nonprofit has said.
April Davila, board vice president of the local center, has told The Sacramento Bee that the posters were hanging on the outside rather than inside due to tint on the windows.
Gigi’s Playhouse announced the arrest Monday afternoon in a news release. The nonprofit said security camera video from an adjacent business and “the diligence” of Roseville police led to the arrest.
“It broke our hearts to have the vandalism occur so soon after we opened our doors,but it reinforced why we are here, and how much more education, awareness and acceptance is needed in our community,” president of GiGi’s Playhouse of Sacramento Nicole Harrigan said in the news release. “Following the vandalism, we had an overwhelming amount of support from so many people, it was truly remarkable.”
