Written by FRANK PEEBLES
Citizen staff
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Thursday, 13 November 2008 |
Sylvia Bockus surveys the damage done to her front lawn by a vehicle at her Ridgeview Drive home Wednesday night. (Citizen photo by Brent Braaten)
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Several residents in the Hart area are fuming after a vandal in a truck drove in their yards and left huge cuts and ruts in their lawns.
A path of vandalism can be seen on Sadler Drive, Panorama Crescent, Ridgeview Drive and Wildwood Crescent.
Police said at least eight yards had been hit.
"It felt like we had been targeted, but it was a relief, in a way, to learn from the police that it happened to a number of people," said Ellen Reason, who lives in the 2500 block of Ridgeview. "They seem to target the areas where people take pride in their yards. I haven't seen it so malicious, so purposeful, they dug their tires in as much as they could. I will have to replace dirt and re-seed my lawn."
A block away another homeowner pegged the yard damage at about $2,000 and she almost had to replace her front windows. She heard the commotion at about 12:30 a.m. Thursday.
"I was in bed already, but I heard him rev his engine and take off across the lawn," the homeowner said. "Rocks hit my window, you can see the rocks across my lawn, they hit my tree and my Christmas decorations. I am not happy."
The truck was seen by one resident on the street who happened to be coming home from hockey just as the suspect was driving through the area. A partial description was obtained by police.
It is not the first time this has happened, said a resident at the corner of Sadler and Panorama, where the truck did a slalom between some yard features, tearing a serpentine lane across the entire breadth of the lot. Each tread path was 10 inches wide.
"We had one guy do it a few years ago, but he got caught," said the homeowner.
"It is about parents and grandparents teaching their children that you respect people's property and people's safety," said Sylvia Bockus, who perhaps suffered the worst damage of all at the home she and her husband have listed for sale. Their slightly sloped lawn facing Wildwood had a pair of matching crescents carved deep into the brand new sod that had just been laid this year. It wasn't the first time for their yard either.
"There's nothing you can do. We can't lay rocks or the snowplow will hit them. We've even considered a spike belt but if someone hits it and crashes into a house or a person, we are the ones who will be held liable for it. All you can hope for is that what goes around comes around for whoever did this. I just can't stress over it; there is too much stress in the world as it is."
Anyone with information should call RCMP at 250-561-3300 or Crime Stoppers 1-800-222-TIPS or www.pgcrimestoppers.bc.ca
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 13 November 2008 )
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