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Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Vandals strike again!

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posted by Bob at Tuesday, July 03, 2007

2 Comments:

Blogger Bob said...

Vandals damage 50 vehicles in St. Paul
Cops seek suspects who hurled bricks, rocks in 'callous' raid
BY JOHN BREWER
Pioneer Press
Article Launched: 07/03/2007 12:01:00 AM CDT


Michele Wackman heard her dog barking early Sunday but ignored its yelps.

When she awoke later that morning, she learned why her pet was making a commotion: Someone had thrown a brick through the driver's side window of her Toyota minivan parked on Goodrich Avenue in St. Paul.

It turns out someone threw bricks, rocks and paving stones at more than 50 vehicles in the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood, leaving a trail of broken glass in an unusually large spate of vandalism.

"We were shocked but also very angry that it was so callous," Wackman said Monday afternoon. "Nothing was stolen. It was destruction for the sake of destruction."

Colleen Luna, commander of the St. Paul Police Department's Western District, said the first damage report came in at 3:34 a.m. Sunday, "and they just kept rolling."

"A lot of windshields, a lot of side windows," Luna said of the vandalism, which occurred in an area bounded by Grand, Hamline, St. Clair and Prior avenues.

Tom Walsh, St. Paul police spokesman, said the incidents would be aggregated, meaning the 50-some misdemeanor window breakings would become a felony-level property damage case.

A local auto glass repair shop said window replacement can run anywhere from $150 to $350 per window - meaning total damage could be from $7,500 to $17,500.

"It's a lot of damage," Luna said.

Luna's investigators are working on a couple of leads, including an account that two men were lobbing bricks and rocks off the back of a flat-bed truck as someone drove them through the area. Some victims have said there were several trucks in the area at the same time. An investigator is currently talking with as many of the car owners as possible to find some consistency in the reports, Luna said.
Several bricks and rocks were found in damaged cars, Luna said.

On Monday afternoon, Sarah Lightner discovered a broken paver resting on some coloring books in the back of her Ford Escort. The projectile smashed the car's back window.

She said she felt "just disappointment, frustration" at the damage but was happy it hadn't happened to her more expensive Subaru.

Michelle Kieger woke up to find the driver's side window of her Chevy Suburban broken out. The repair - covered by insurance - cost $277.96.

She said she and her husband heard the breaking glass early Sunday morning but didn't see anything outside and went back to bed.

"And then to find out it was so widespread was just shocking," she said.

Police don't have any solid witnesses, but they hope someone will remember seeing something out of place on the usually quiet streets in the west-central St. Paul neighborhood.

"Someone knows what happened, and we need their help," Luna said. "Any information, even if they don't think it's important, we'd appreciate a phone call."

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call police at 651-291-1111.

John Brewer can be reached at 651-228-2093or at jbrewer@pioneerpress.com.

8:50 AM  
Blogger Bob said...

Hi All,

This happened to me and about 100 other victims about 2 months ago!

It is a recurring problem here in Highland and probably through out the City I'd guess. My car windows have been vandalized on 4 different occasions since I lived in Highland. One time it cost me $1800.

These incidents don't always find their way to the news.

I think the sentence should be if they are ever caught. Is when they purchase their first car, we all get to come over and throw rocks at it.

I can just see these irresponsibile brats throwing a fit if the shoe was on the other foot.

10:19 AM  

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