3rd person charged with hate crime in spray-paintings

A third person has been charged with malicious destruction of property and violating Maryland's hate-crime law after racial slurs and vulgar phrases were spray-painted on four Mount Airy homes Monday night, state police said yesterday.

Justin Eugene Wright, 20, of the 200 block of Watersville Road in Mount Airy was charged with nine counts of malicious destruction of property and one count of racial or religious harassment, authorities said. Wright was released on his own recognizance to await a court appearance, police said.

Residents in the Friendly Acres neighborhood found Tuesday morning that the homes, a car, a sidewalk and two signs had been vandalized, said Sgt. David Warner of the state police Westminster barracks. Racial slurs were painted on at least one house with black residents, Warner said.

Two teen-age boys were charged this week in the incidents.