Local News in Brief : Westminster : Police Have No Suspects in Burning of Cross

Westminster police have no suspects in Thursday’s pre-dawn cross-burning on the lawn of a black family’s home, Officer Tom Broderman said Friday.

“We still have no one in custody,” he said, adding that investigation and interviews with neighbors are continuing.

Kristie Heisser, 19, awoke about 4:30 a.m. Thursday to discover a 3-by-3-foot cross aflame on the front lawn of her family’s two-story home on Shawnee Road. Heisser’s father, Ted, owns a commercial property management company and is a former president of the Orange County chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.

Police are working with the Westminster Fire Department to investigate the crime, which they said may be connected with the recent surge of white-supremacist graffiti in the Indian Village neighborhood where the burning occurred.

Residents said their quiet neighborhood has been disrupted recently by a group of Skinheads who have spray-painted walls with swastikas and walked through the streets yelling “white power” and other racist slogans.

Experts on white gangs say there are two kinds of Skinheads; those who adopt the way-of-dress to make a social statement, and another, smaller group, who advocate white supremacy.