A 44-year-old California man is facing felony charges after Coral Springs Police say he pushed a shopping cart carrying a pit bull into an outdoor menorah at a local synagogue, shattering the structure during Saturday morning services. Matthew John Ryan, of Winnetka, California, was arrested on Saturday and charged with felony criminal mischief involving a place of worship, resisting an officer without violence, and illegal possession of a shopping cart. The menorah stood between 8 and 10 feet tall outside Chabad of Coral Springs on North University Drive before it was damaged.
Police say Ryan rammed the cart, with the dog inside it, into the menorah, causing an estimated $5,000 in damage, according to WSVN 7News. The incident was also captured on video and reported by CBS News Miami, which cited police accounts describing how the California man pushed the cart with the dog inside directly into the religious structure.
Congregants walking to Saturday morning services witnessed the attack and alerted synagogue security, the station's report notes. Rabbi Moshe Yaras responded by saying the community would answer the destruction with expanded acts of kindness and community service rather than retaliation.
Suspect Claimed He Was Filming a Movie During Arrest
Officers caught up with Ryan on Wiles Road, about half a mile from the synagogue. According to the same account, Ryan refused police orders to drop to the ground, reached into a satchel, and attempted to grab an officer's Taser during the struggle. He repeatedly claimed he was “in a production movie” as officers worked to take him into custody.
Investigators also determined the shopping cart used in the vandalism had been stolen from a nearby Walmart Neighborhood Market at 4650 North University Drive. Store management is pursuing separate theft charges valued at $250 over the missing cart, per the same report.
Why the Charge Is a Felony
Florida law treats damage to houses of worship more harshly than ordinary vandalism. Under Florida Statute § 806.13, damaging or defacing a place of worship or religious article in excess of $200 automatically elevates a criminal mischief charge to a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in state prison and a $5,000 fine, according to the Ansara Law Firm. Separately, Florida Statute § 775.085 allows state prosecutors to apply hate crime sentence enhancements to criminal mischief charges if evidence shows the crime was motivated by bias against a victim's religion, according to Tallahassee Criminal Attorney. It remains unclear whether prosecutors will pursue that enhancement in Ryan's case.
Part of a Pattern Across South Florida
This is not the first menorah targeted in the region. In December 2025, South Florida authorities arrested a suspect caught on video knocking down and destroying an outdoor menorah outside the Miami-Dade Tax Collector's Office in downtown Miami during Hanukkah, as reported by Florida Politics. Still, a report released by the Anti-Defamation League in August 2025 designated Florida as one of nine states meeting top national standards for legislative and policy measures aimed at combating antisemitism, according to Axios Miami.
Chabad of Coral Springs is known locally for more than its services. Beyond daily religious observance, the synagogue operates community outreach initiatives at its North University Drive facility, including free weekly food distribution events to support local families facing food insecurity. For Rabbi Yaras and the congregation, that mission of service is the lens through which they say they intend to respond to the damage done to their menorah.
