Police Memorial Statue Vandalized in Riverside

Riverside police arrested Shannon Powell, 47, in connection to the vandalism.

A 47-year-old woman was arrested in connection with vandalizing a statue memorializing police officers killed in the line of duty in Riverside on Friday.

The woman was arrested after someone reported seeing a woman pulling off and breaking tiles from the base of a statue about 2 p.m., according to the Riverside Police Department.

The woman was described as a transient from Riverside who appeared to suffer from mental illness.

The incident occurred the same week as protests about two police shootings of black men, and a day after five Dallas officers were killed in a sniper attack, but Riverside police said they do not believe the vandalism has "any relation to recent events."

The vandalized statue depicts a Riverside Police officer with a child in his arms, and lists the names of all officers killed in the line of duty in Riverside County.

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