In an early Friday morning arrest, authorities nabbed a New York teen they believe destroyed the Lt. Michael P. Murphy Memorial.

Fourth Squad detectives from the Suffolk County Police took the unnamed 14-year-old boy into custody at his Ronkonkoma home at 3 a.m. on Friday, according to a statement released to Navy Times by Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart.

He was charged with Criminal Mischief in the 2nd Degree and will be arraigned at Suffolk County Family Court in Central Islip at a later date, she added.

Because he’s a juvenile, officials declined to identify the suspect. He’s accused of smashing the memorial into a dozen shards on Thursday at Lt. Michael P. Murphy Memorial Park in the Long Island community of Lake Ronkonkoma.

Although a $2,500 reward was offered through Crime Stoppers for information leading to his arrest, detectives didn’t identify the suspect through a tip, officials said.

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Murphy, a member of SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1, posthumously received the Medal of Honor — America’s highest award for battlefield bravery — for his gallantry near Asadabad in Afghanistan’s Konar Province during Operation Red Wings in 2005.

While hunting for a Taliban commander, Murphy’s four-member SEAL team was surrounded by nearly 10 times as many guerrillas, according to this award citation.

Although wounded in a ferocious firefight, Murphy continued to lead and encourage his men. Facing almost certain death, he fought to reach an open spot to transmit a satellite telephone call to his headquarters. Continuing to blaze away at the Taliban fighters, that final act of heroism cost the 29-year-old Murphy his life.

The guided missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) operates in the Pacific Ocean Jan. 25, 2014, during exercise Koa Kai 14-1. Koa Kai is a semiannual U.S. Navy exercise to prepare and test ships? readiness to deploy and respond quickly to support maritime strategy.(DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Dustin W. Sisco, U.S. Navy/Released)


The Long Island native was buried in Suffolk County’s Calverton National Cemetery.

Commissioned in 2012 and homeported in Pearl Harbor, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer Michael Murphy bears his name.

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