Kentucky man charged with 'criminal mischief' in cross burning and racist vandalism

A western Kentucky man was arrested on misdemeanor charges after deputies investigated an act of racial terrorism against his neighbors.

A Daviess County man said another man had kicked in the door to his mobile home Oct. 5 about 11:45 p.m., and he chased the intruder outside and briefly fought with him, reported SurfKY.com.

The intruder fled after the homeowner punched him, and that's when the man noticed his trailer had been spray-painted with racial slurs.

He called deputies, who opened an investigation and then left, but the man called them back about 3 a.m. Oct. 6 -- and they found a two-foot burned cross in the victim's yard.

Deputies identified 26-year-old Scott Alan Shepherd as a suspect in the incident, and they arrested him this week on one count of second-degree criminal mischief.

The charge against Shepherd relates only to the kicked-in door at the victim's mobile home, because deputies have not yet found sufficient evidence to charge him in the racist vandalism or cross-burning.

Deputies have contacted the FBI to investigate possible hate crime charges in the case.