Sikh temple vandalized: Search for hate crime suspect intensifies

LOS FELIZ, Calif. (FOX 11) - When we first brought you this story a couple of weeks ago there was fear and frustration at the Sikh Temple on the corner of Finley and Vermont in Los Feliz. Words of hate were scrawled on the outdoor walls of the Temple in three different locations.

With the help of a cell phone video, an eyewitness and social media police now have the name of a suspect and are trying to find him.

Nirinjan Singh Khalsa is the Director of the California Sikh Council. He told a news conference outside the church that "On Thursday, August 31st, an individual full of hate vandalized this house of worship with threats of violence and destruction."

It just so happened that at the same time that man, named by police as Artyom Manukyan caught the eye of Karna Ray - a New Yorker visiting a friend across the street.

Ray started recording what he saw what was going on and before he knew..."he threatened to slit my throat, turned around... showed me the weapon that he had which seems like it was a 4 or 5 inch straight razor."

Police say that threat, the threatening words on the wall - some which make no sense...and his past criminal record are enough to want him off the street.

LAPD Captain Bob Long says Manukyan's "past crime history (includes) prior convictions for burglary and grand theft and one other prior for criminal threat."

The words on the walls are, to police, a threat - pure and simple.

Captain Long says, "He makes specific reference to 'death' and a derogatory term and a Sikh. So, it's very specific."

Khalsa says, "There's evidence from his writings that he might have actually been at this particular temple...he's not known...we've asked around, nobody really recognized him."

Police believe he's from the Hollywood and Glendale area. They describe him as a 27-year-old who used to live with family but now his whereabouts are unknown.

Long says, "I'm fully confident he designed this as a threat to the Sikh community and we need to take him into custody and make sure the community - not just the Sikh community, but the whole community is safer until we can evaluate what he's like."

Call the LAPD if you have any information.