AMHERST, N.Y. — A woman was charged with one count of criminal mischief in connection to an incident that happened March 16 at CompassCare.
Hannah Kamke, 39, faces one felony count of criminal mischief in the third degree, which is a Class E Felony, Amherst Police said. The incident involved the spray-painting of a sign at the CompassCare facility at 1230 Eggert Road, according to the police investigation.
CompassCare CEO, Rev. Jim Harden, says this arrest is a step in the right direction and praises the Amherst Police Department.
Police are still looking for the person, or persons, who set fire to the building last June.
That incident happened June 7, 2022, at the CompassCare Pregnancy Services Center on Eggert Road in Amherst. Harden hopes that this first arrest will help lead to an arrest in connection to the firebombing that happened at CompassCare last year.
"It would be great if we got a resolution to this particular case but I told the FBI when I was in their office in Buffalo, what's more, important to me than even getting a resolution on this particular firebombing case, is that the violence across the country stops. That's what's most important" says Harden.
FBI investigators say around 2:45 a.m. on June 7, Amherst Police received a 911 call regarding a fire at the CompassCare Center. They say individuals had thrown Molotov cocktails at the center, starting a fire that caused significant damage.
They say one of the individuals also spray-painted "Jane was here" on the building. The FBI says the suspects drove a 2013-2016 Dodge Dart sedan, either red or orange in color.
According to the Amherst Police Department, the spray-painting incident and firebombing are not related. But Harden says CompassCare's private investigators believe that Kamke is part of a group responsible for both incidents.