A D.C. arrest, but vandalism still puzzling
The suspect, a Chinese woman with an expired visa, is said to have mental issues.
WASHINGTON - Moments before police found Jiamei Tian hiding in a bathroom stall at Washington National Cathedral, a family of tourists had spotted her in a back pew of the Children's Chapel guarding two bags and muttering softly in a foreign language.
Tian's unsettling behavior continued Tuesday, when the 58-year-old Chinese national made her first appearance in D.C. Superior Court to face charges in connection with a string of vandalism in which city churches and attractions were spattered with green paint.
Tian refused to cooperate with the D.C. police department's Asian Liaison Unit, according to officials at her court appearance. She would not say where she stayed in Washington. She told police that she had lived in Los Angeles, but prosecutors said they could find no evidence of that. She speaks little or English. Her visa expired three days ago.
As authorities investigate crimes that marred the Lincoln Memorial, a statue of the Smithsonian's first secretary, and sanctuaries in two churches - one with a toxic mixture of paint, urine, and feces - it may be as challenging to understand who Tian is as it will be to determine a motive for the vandalism. D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said Tuesday the suspect may have "mental health issues."
D.C. Magistrate Judge Lori Parker ordered Tian to remain in jail until her next hearing Friday; so far, she faces a single charge of defacing property for an attack on National Cathedral, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine up to $5,000.
Tian appeared in court in shackles and wearing a white jail jumpsuit. She was accompanied by a Mandarin interpreter and a female marshal, who at one point pulled her backward when she became agitated while speaking.
"She's a danger to the community," Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Chambers told the court.
Damage estimates are still coming in: $3,000 in one cathedral chapel, $15,000 in another.
While the judge said Tian had been in the District of Columbia only two days, some of the vandalism may have occurred before the weekend, and she reportedly was approached by homeless advocates over the winter.
A homeless advocate whose staff has met her described her as secretive. For a time, she reportedly slept on a bench in a park near the White House.
"She's somebody we know," a parish administrator said. "She's homeless, but it's somebody we recognized."
