Accused Church Vandal And Arsonist Worked For The Media?

Daphne Moon 0 1 min read

Portland police say they have a man in custody after he stepped out of the darkness to turn himself in, pretty much. Mike Bivins, a reporter told officers that he vandalized several synagogues and police say he attempted to set fire to at least one mosque.

Authorities said that Bivins was arrested after he visited a television news station, KPTV FOX 12, and demanded to speak to a reporter.

“On Wednesday, Bivins came by the FOX 12 station asking to speak to a reporter,” the outlet said in a statement. “He said he was the one vandalizing places of worship, gave names and locations of places he had been to and vandalized, and said he would not stop committing these crimes before stating he would come back to the station Friday afternoon.”

Authorities said that federal law enforcement officials had been notified and that additional charges may be forthcoming.

“This is certainly noteworthy that someone would contact a news station and want to discuss crimes they committed,” Kevin Allen of Portland Police said. “I’m not sure what the motivation there was, but we are certainly grateful to you and KPTV for working with our investigators so we could get him arrested, get him into custody and find appropriate charges for him. It’s important to note too that this is early in the investigation. I know the detective is continuing to work on what charges could be appropriate and we could be putting more charges forth going forward.”

According to KGW, when police interviewed Bivens, he admitted to speaking with a reporter but denied admitting to any crimes. He also mentioned that he lives in a Southeast Portland apartment with his mother.

Police got a search warrant for the apartment and found clothing that matched surveillance images of the suspect. They also found a can of yellow spray paint, among other evidence connecting Bivens to the crimes.

 

Send this to a friend