A Redding man accused of stealing a 25-ton front-end loader last month and ramming it into a Sikh temple in Anderson was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on multiple charges, including committing a hate crime.

Michael Benjamin Rafferty, 39, is scheduled to be arraigned April 25 in Shasta County Superior Court. A tentative trial date may be set at that hearing.

Rafferty remains in custody at Shasta County jail in lieu of more than $1.3 million bail. He faces about 11 years in prison if convicted at trial of the charges against him....

Under questioning Wednesday by Deputy District Attorney Stacy Larson, Anderson police officer Tim York testified at Rafferty's hearing that the Redding man told him he had vandalized the temple because it was owned by foreigners.

"He thought they were Arabs," he said. "He said they didn't believe in Jesus and didn't belong there."

Anderson police officer Scott Bailey and Shasta County sheriff's Detective Pam Depuy both testified at the hearing. Bailey said that Rafferty admitted to having used methamphetamine three to four hours before his alleged rampage.

Bailey also testified that Rafferty was "confused" and "delusional" and made statements that did not initially make sense.

"He (Rafferty) seemed to be under the influence of something," said Depuy, who noted that Rafferty admitted to her that he rammed the front-end loader into the 9,000-square-foot temple. "He said the building belonged to him" and called it the "Taj Mahal," she said.

The attack allegedly caused $54,000 in damages. Sharpe unsuccessfully argued that the preliminary hearing testimony showed that his client was "not in his right mind" at the time of the incident and that hate crime and a civil rights violation against him should be dismissed.

"I don't think he knew what he was doing," Sharpe said.

Rafferty is accused of stealing the front-end loader during the early morning hours of March 13 from Salinas & Sons Trucking, where he performed odd jobs. He also apparently did landscaping work at the temple, according to preliminary hearing testimony. [Link]