Man charged with hate crimes in burning of Black church

A man was charged with hate crime offenses Thursday after federal prosecutors said he intentionally set fire to a predominantly Black church in Massachusetts last year.

Dushko Vulchev, 44, of Houlton, ME, is in state custody on four counts of damage to religious property involving fire and one count of use of fire to commit a federal felony in connection with a Dec. 28 blaze at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Presbyterian Church in Springfield, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts said in a statement.

He will make an initial appearance in federal court at a later date.

Vulchev was accused of setting the church ablaze on four separate occasions and slashing the tires of several cars parked near it.

Ultimately, the FBI said, it was the fourth fire set just after 5 a.m. on Dec. 28 that “essentially destroyed” the church.

At: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-charged-hate-crimes-burning-black-church-n1264202

Suspect Dushko Vulchev caught in security footage stealing tires in Springfield, MA, last year.

Vulchec has been arrested on charges of arson against a historically Black church in Maine in December.