She also stated that Denton had prior convictions and was on probation or parole at the time that he committed the arson. Denton was previously charged with second-degree robbery with a deadly weapon connected to a separate alleged assault on the same night, in which a man was struck with a rock and had a piece of artwork stolen. Denton had previously been charged with burgling and vandalising the Berkeley Hillel and damaging mezuzahs at Congregation Beth El and at UC Berkeley Chabad Director Rabbi Gil Leeds’ home. However, a 2021 plea deal saw him convicted of one count of misdemeanor vandalism and placed on probation, according to the Berkeley Scanner. Rabbi Adam Naftalin-Kelman, executive director of Berkeley Hillel, said that the affected mezuzah was changed the day after the arson attack and that the Shabbat celebration continued unimpeded.