On Christmas Eve, a man in Maryland was arrested after causing chaos at two churches in St. Mary’s County, disrupting their services, and even tampering with holy water in a shocking way.
The man, identified as 56-year-old Thomas Campbell Bolling Von Goetz, ended up behind bars after incidents at Holy Angels Catholic Church in Avenue and St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Leonardtown. According to the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office, he not only disrupted services but also assaulted churchgoers with produce and poured whiskey into the holy water at one of the churches.
It all began during a 5:00 p.m. service at Holy Angels Catholic Church. Witnesses said Von Goetz walked down the aisle and dropped an onion in front of the altar, stopping the service. Someone in attendance stepped in to escort him out of the church, but outside, Von Goetz reportedly attacked them by throwing tangerines.
Later that night, the disturbances continued at the midnight mass at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church. This time, Von Goetz allegedly poured whiskey into the holy water and even threatened the congregation with the whiskey bottle. Once again, he was removed from the church, but things escalated further outside. According to the sheriff’s office, he tried to attack people with the whiskey bottle. Fortunately, parishioners managed to hold him until deputies arrived.
After the incident, Von Goetz was taken to MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital for an evaluation. Authorities did not share details about the results of that evaluation, but two days later, on December 26, he was formally arrested.
Von Goetz now faces several charges, including second-degree assault, disorderly conduct, defacing religious property, making threats of mass violence, and disturbing the peace. He’s currently being held at the St. Mary’s County Detention and Rehabilitation Center, awaiting his first court appearance.
For now, Christmas Eve is being remembered a little differently in these two Maryland churches, where an evening meant for peaceful celebration took a bizarre and chaotic turn.
