Police say they caught a man mid-swing as he smashed apart a Marine Corps memorial honoring the flag-raising at Iwo Jima, knocking the head off one of the bronze soldiers.
Story Snapshot
- Officers arrested Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, 27, of Stafford, Virginia, after finding him striking the Iwo Jima monument with a sledgehammer.
- The attack happened around 10:13 p.m. on October 21 near Richmond Highway and Fuller Road in Quantico.
- Soriano knocked the head off one of the Marine figures shown in the monument, police said.
- He faces three felony charges, and police estimate the damage at hundreds of thousands of dollars.
- Fox News reported, citing federal sources, that Soriano is in the country illegally, though no immigration court record has confirmed that status.
Officers Arrive to Find Suspect Still Swinging
Prince William County police said officers responding to a call near Quantico found Soriano “actively striking the statue with a sledgehammer” when they arrived just after 10 p.m. He was taken into custody at the scene without a struggle, according to the police account reported by Prince William Times and Potomac Local.
The monument stands near Richmond Highway and Fuller Road, a stretch of road that sits close to Marine Corps Base Quantico. Several local outlets, including InsideNoVa and the Washington Examiner, confirmed the same timeline and location based on the police release, giving a consistent picture of when and where the attack unfolded.
A War Memorial Left Decapitated
The monument depicts the famous flag-raising atop Mount Suribachi during World War II, a scene honoring U.S. Marines who fought and died in the battle for Iwo Jima. Police said Soriano used the sledgehammer to knock the head off one of the Marine figures, leaving visible damage to the bronze sculpture that has stood as a tribute to those troops.
Investigators have not released a detailed damage report or named an appraiser, but early estimates put the cost of repairs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. InsideNoVa reported that figure came from police, though the outlet did not describe how officials calculated it.
Suspect Faces Three Felony Counts
Soriano was charged with felony destruction of property, trespassing with intent to damage property, and felony injury to a monument, according to the police release cited by multiple outlets. He was being held without bond as of the arrest, with a court date still pending at the time of reporting.
Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, 27, of Stafford, Virginia, was caught by Prince William County police shortly after 10 p.m. on October 21, 2026, actively striking the limestone Iwo Jima replica near Marine Corps Base Quantico with a sledgehammer. He removed the head of one of…
— Durwin Lloyd, ND (ret) (@LloydDurwin) October 23, 2026
No court filings reviewed in the available reporting show a plea, trial evidence, or final ruling. The case remains an arrest and a set of charges, not a finished legal matter, and the next steps will play out in Virginia’s court system in the weeks ahead.
Claims About Immigration Status Surface Online
Fox News reported, citing unnamed federal sources, that Soriano is in the United States illegally, and the claim spread quickly across social media. However, the police and court records cited in local reporting identify him only as a Stafford, Virginia resident and do not include an immigration determination, agency statement, or proceeding confirming that status.
The gap between the viral claim and the documented record does not mean the claim is false. It means the publicly available police and court paperwork, as reported so far, has not addressed immigration status one way or the other, leaving that question open until an agency or court record settles it.
Sources:
fox5dc.com, princewilliamtimes.com, potomaclocal.com, washingtontimes.com
