Police cuffed on Friday the man they believe vandalized the Turkish Consulate earlier in the week.
Recep Akbiyik, 29, allegedly smashed about ten windows at the Turkish Consulate during the early hours of May 22, police sources said. The NYPD received a 911 call around 3:15 a.m. alerting them that a man was pulverizing the windows of the building located at 821 1st Avenue.
Staff from the consulate were left to clean up the shattered glass from the sidewalk on Monday morning, during which time one worker told amNewYork Metro that the vandal had used a steel rod to shatter the glass.
Akbiyik was arrested in Brooklyn and is reportedly a Turkish native and has only been in the Big Apple for several months. He had been staying in a hotel in Sunset Park. While police did not comment on a possible motive, a source close to the investigation reported that Akbiyik may allegedly have some mental health issues.
Akbiyik was led out of the 17th Precinct in cuffs on Friday afternoon by detectives while refusing to answer questions peppered at him by reporters. He is charged with attempted burglary, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, making terroristic threats, criminal mischief and two counts of menacing.
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