MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Two people broke into a Mountlake Terrace mosque Tuesday, and an Islamic advocacy group called on police to investigate bias as a possible motive.
Police arrested a man in connection with the burglary. An alleged accomplice has yet to be identified.
The two suspects — a man in his 50s and a woman believed to be in her late 40s or early 50s — went into Masjid Umar Al-Farooq around 4 p.m. Tuesday, in the 5500 block of 238th Street SW, according to police. They allegedly took prayer rugs and Qurans. Police report they then threw them in a dumpster.
They also reportedly damaged cabinets to try to reach valuable items, according to police.
The Washington chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations took note of the incident and called it “hateful.”
“Our houses of worship should be places where our communities can come together and feel safe, rather than having to see this hateful string of incidents across our state this past month,” CAIR-WA executive director Imraan Siddiqi said in a statement.
The man was booked into the Snohomish County Jail in Everett. Police ask anyone with information about the woman to call 425-744-6242.
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