Man Pleads Guilty To Smashing Windows Of OC Church

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — A San Dimas man pleaded guilty Monday and was sentenced to 16 months in jail for vandalizing an Orange County church.

Nicolas Alexandro Briones, 27, pleaded guilty to one count each of vandalism and vandalism of religious property, both felonies.

He vandalized Christ Church by the Sea in Newport Beach only days after being released from jail for vandalism in an unrelated case, according to a previous Patch report.

Senior Pastor Rev. at Christ Church by the Sea Paul Capetz told the Orange County Register that he woke up to a voicemail from the Newport Beach police at around 3 a.m. the day of the vandalismabout the incident. According to officers, the man had taken a baseball bat to the church's stained glass windows and doors.

"They were very valuable stained glass windows given by members a long time ago in honor of their loved ones," Capetz told the OC Register.

Parishioners who helped clean up the mess later that morning described the glass almost like snow to the Daily Pilot.

"[Glass] was just everywhere," Jacqueline Ingels told the Daily Pilot. "Nancy [Remley] and everyone who came down, we just got about 15 and 15 people and cleaned it up in about three to four hours. But it was just heartbreaking. My daughter was baptized here."