A man who used a pickaxe and a sledgehammer to smash Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was charged on Thursday with felony vandalism, authorities said.
James Otis, 52, faces a maximum of three years in jail or a $10,000 fine, the Los Angeles county district attorney’s office said.
Otis destroyed the star of the president-elect in the pre-dawn hours of October 27, when Trump was still a candidate, police said. He was arrested soon after.
Otis, who is free on bail and scheduled to be arraigned on Friday, could not immediately be reached for comment and it’s unclear if he has an attorney.
The star, given to Trump in 2007 for his work on the reality show ‘The Apprentice’, has since been repaired.
Otis said at the time that he smashed the star in protest of Trump’s treatment of women, and had initially planned to steal the star, sell it off and give the money to the 11 women who had said Trump groped them.
{{/usCountry}}Otis said at the time that he smashed the star in protest of Trump’s treatment of women, and had initially planned to steal the star, sell it off and give the money to the 11 women who had said Trump groped them.
{{/usCountry}}He said he would be happy to pay for the repairs.