LEONARDTOWN, MARYLAND – A viral post claiming a Florida woman was arrested for spiking church holy water with vodka has spread widely online, but no record of that case could be found. A real incident does exist, however, involving a Maryland man who poured whiskey into holy water during a Christmas Eve Mass in 2024. Thomas Campbell Bolling Von Goetz, 56, of Avenue, Maryland, was arrested and charged after disrupting services at two Catholic churches.
Viral Florida Vodka Claim Has No Name, Location, or Police Record
The viral post claims a Florida woman poured vodka into holy water so churchgoers would loosen up and later joked that it still blesses. It does not name the woman, the church, the city, or the law enforcement agency involved.
The accompanying images, including a mugshot and a photo of vodka being poured into a font, appear to be digitally generated. Readers are urged to be cautious about sharing such posts without a credible news source. A search of news reports found no matching arrest in Florida.
Maryland Man Dropped Onion and Threw Tangerines at First Church
According to the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office, Von Goetz entered Holy Angels Catholic Church in Avenue around 5:12 p.m. on December 24, 2024, during Mass. He walked up the aisle, stared at the deacon, and dropped an onion before leaving.
A person who followed him outside to make sure he left was then pelted with tangerines, deputies said. The disturbance delayed the Mass at Holy Angels. The church is located on Colton Point Road in Avenue.
Whiskey Poured Into Holy Water During Midnight Mass in Leonardtown
Later that night, during midnight Mass at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Leonardtown, Von Goetz allegedly poured whiskey into the holy water and threatened parishioners. As churchgoers escorted him out, he tried unsuccessfully to strike several people with the whiskey bottle.
Parishioners held him down until deputies arrived, and the communion service was halted entirely. Court documents say he admitted to the act and claimed he wanted to blind Satan. St. Francis Xavier sits on Newtowne Neck Road in Leonardtown.
Von Goetz Faced Seven Charges Including Threat of Mass Violence
Von Goetz was taken to a hospital for evaluation before being arrested on December 26 and booked into the St. Mary’s County Detention and Rehabilitation Center. The damage to the holy water was valued at less than $100. Both incidents took place in St. Mary’s County in southern Maryland.
He was charged with second-degree assault, disorderly conduct, defacing religious property, religious crime against a group, obstructing a religious exercise, threat of mass violence, and disturbing the peace. Similar real incidents are sometimes reworked into fabricated viral stories online.
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