{"id":101744,"date":"2026-01-15T23:36:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T23:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/101744\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T23:36:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T23:36:07","slug":"pastor-asks-for-prayers-for-man-accused-of-disrupting-staten-island-mass-urges-mental-health-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/101744\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastor asks for prayers for man accused of disrupting Staten Island Mass; urges mental health support"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Following a recent outburst that disrupted Mass and damaged the altar at St. Ann\u2019s R.C. Church in Dongan Hills, the pastor of the parish said he is praying for the man accused of the incident, while urging the community to invest more deeply in mental health care and services.<\/p>\n

Rev. Jacob Thumma, the pastor of St. Ann\u2019s Church and St. Sylvester\u2019s R.C. Church in Concord, expressed this desire during a press conference outside St. Ann\u2019s on Thursday where officials addressed a recent spate of crimes<\/a> which took place at several houses of worship.<\/p>\n

Among those crimes, police said, was the outburst of a disorderly 28-year-old man who disrupted the morning Mass<\/a> at St. Ann\u2019s on Friday, Jan. 9, and vandalized the altar. <\/p>\n

The man subsequently struggled with two officers who responded to the scene; they suffered minor injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis instant highlights an urgent societal concern \u2014 the need for enhanced services and compassionate care for those suffering from mental illness,\u201c Father Thumma said. \u201cWe must continue to invest in mental health resources that support families, provide timely interventions before crises occur. We ask the public to join us in prayer for the individual involved in this incident, that he may receive the healing he needs and for the injured police officers and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FatherRev. Jacob Thumma holds a piece of broken marble from the wing of a statue after a man vandalized the altar at St. Ann’s R.C. Church in Dongan Hills while Mass was being celebrated on the morning of Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(Advance\/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)<\/p>\n

In recalling the events that unfolded on Jan. 9, Father Thumma explained that he was not the priest holding Mass that morning. At the time, he viewed surveillance video from the church and saw the man having an outburst. <\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time an individual has had an outburst in the church, according to Father Thumma; something like this has happened at least three times in his recollection. However, he noted that had it not been for the \u201ccourage\u201d of the NYPD, this could have been a \u201cmore serious situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pastor expressed his belief that those who do suffer from mental illness do not have full control and acts such as that on Jan. 9 are not \u201cpurposefully planned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s where I think we need to ask for God\u2019s help here \u2014 healing and forgiveness. Not just for him, but for the family, his own family too,” Father Thumma said.<\/p>\n

Rev. Thumma expressed to District Attorney Michael E. McMahon his wish to see the man responsible for the destruction at his church receive help.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Father Jacob has made it clear that where possible, that the values of his faith and our faith \u2014 the Christian values \u2014 are invoked and where possible, we will make sure that those who suffer from mental illness get the help that they need as part of their accountability program,” said McMahon. \u201cThat\u2019s what we do here on Staten Island, where close to 40% of the arrests that are made here get offers of alternatives to incarceration, we will try that in these instances.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, who grew up in Dongan Hills and has an extensive history with St. Ann\u2019s, applauded Thumma at the press conference and said the following:<\/p>\n

\u201cFather Thumma, I commend you for your bravery and also your forgiveness in making sure that the people who are dealing with mental health issues get the treatment that they deserve as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police identified the suspect in the St. Ann\u2019s incident as Matthew Caffrey of Gansevoort Boulevard in Meiers Corners.<\/p>\n

St. Sylvester\u2019s Church<\/p>\n

In addition to the incident at St. Ann\u2019s Church, the other church where Father Thumma serves as pastor was also recently vandalized. <\/p>\n

During Christmas morning Mass, a 64-year-old man allegedly defaced the entrance to St. Sylvester\u2019s Church<\/a> with a brown liquid identified as feces by Father Thumma.<\/p>\n

Patrick Nembhard, a resident of Concord, was identified by video surveillance as the individual responsible for throwing the foul-smelling liquid against the church\u2019s door, authorities allege.<\/p>\n

A detective reviewed the surveillance video and showed Nembhard a still photograph from the video. According to the criminal complaint, Nembhard said in sum and substance, \u201cYea that\u2019s me.\u201c He allegedly further stated in sum and substance, \u201dI was homeless at the time I drank a whole bottle of vodka I was just roaming around and I don\u2019t remember doing that but I used to go to that church when I was young, yeah that\u2019s me, wow I look drunk as s—.\u201d<\/p>\n

The defendant has since been arrested and faces charges of disruption or disturbance of a religious service, criminal tampering in the third degree and disorderly conduct.<\/p>\n

Nembhard is being held on $2,500 cash\/$5,000 bond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Following a recent outburst that disrupted Mass and damaged the altar at St. Ann\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-101744","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}