Cape Coral home vandalized; homeowner calls it a “hate crime”

A man returned to his unfinished Cape Coral home to find it’s been violated and vandalized. Cape Coral police are searching for the suspect or suspects.

He found paint splattered, glass shattered, massive holes in walls, doors and windows broken and derogatory writing on walls. Words too vile to write or show on television.

Peter Ndiangui, the Cape Coral homeowner and FGCU Professor, was appalled when he found the mess on Tuesday morning.

“I was traumatized. I was shocked. My god, it was so so scary,” Ndiangui said.

The painted words in red on the wall made him believe it was a hate crime.

“I didn’t choose the color of my skin. You didn’t choose yours. I didn’t choose my gender. I didn’t choose anything. We are here. We can’t blame God for making us so different, but there’s room for all of us here. More important, there’s room for love for one another,” Ndiangui said.

He bought the home earlier this year after the previous owner left it half built. Ndiangui planned to fix it up and sell it to a family.

“This is wrong, it’s immoral, it’s unethical. It’s not who we are. It’s not the America we want,” Ndiangui said.

The extensive damage is going to cost between $50,000 to $100,000 dollars to fix everything.

“We have to repaint. There’s so much broken, the doors, the widows, the everything, and you can see all so many of those things broken down,” Ndiangui said.

The suspect or suspects remain at-large. The suspects shoe marks in bright red paint are all over the home.

“The guy came hitting. He must have been very angry for what, I don’t know. Every room, every one of them, he went all over. He was on a rampage. Even just to think there is anybody who has that mindset to just destroy, I would probably understand if there was something to gain. But what do you really gain out of this kind of work, what is it to you?” Ndiangui said.

The Cape Coral Police Department were called to the scene Tuesday. They collected evidence, took pictures of the shoe prints and canvassed the neighborhood. The department told WINK News they are not identifying this case as a hate crime, but instead a criminal mischief.

Ndiangui has a message to the suspect:

“Don’t do it again. Please get out. If you need help, I can even help you to get to the rehab. Change that mindset. I’m sorry for them that they have that mindset for whatever reason. This does not help you. This does not advance any cause,” Ndiangui said.

He went on to say, “Tell you the truth, I am more sorry for them than I’m sorry for my loss for somebody to have that mindset. I feel sad for them, and I pray that god will change them, will make them see that there is no gain in this kind of destruction.”

Ndiangui says he will overcome this, and rebuild better.

The FGCU community is rallying behind their professor and planning a cleanup this weekend.