Vandals

Vandals break windows in vehicles MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - City police and Berkeley County sheriff's deputies are investigating a rash of vandalism in which windows were shot or smashed out of a slew of vehicles sometime during the night Wednesday, police said Thursday. The Martinsburg Police Department is investigating incidents involving 17 vehicles that were parked on North and South Queen Street, West King and West Burke streets, Williamsport Avenue, East Addition Street and Winchester Avenue.

Vandals break school's windows By Kimberly Yakowski / Staff Writer BOONSBORO - With just two weeks to go before the start of the school year, staff at Boonsboro High School will have to add window repairs to their list of preparations. Washington County Sheriff's deputies said vandals smashed 14 windows at the school building at 10 Campus Avenue, sometime late Friday evening. A press release from the sheriff's department did not indicate what section of the building was targeted.

Armed vandals strike downtown By KIMBERLY YAKOWSKI / Staff Writer Budget Printing Center co-owner Brenda Rafter stares out of her store's window at 59 Cannon Ave. in Hagerstown. The windows and front door of her business were shot Wednesday night. photo: RICHARD T. MEAGHER staff photographer Vandals armed with BB or pellet guns targeted windows in Hagerstown's downtown, shattering or leaving dime-size holes in the windows of at least seven businesses.

Whoever is doing it definitely is on the naughty list. Someone is going around at night and slashing inflatable lawn ornaments, with police investigating about 25 such cases of vandalism in about the last week. Many have been in the north end of Hagerstown, said Lt. Mark Knight, an investigator with the Washington County Sheriff's Department. Police don't have any suspects in these "attempted murders," and investigators don't know whether one or two people are responsible or whether some might be copycat crimes, Knight said.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com MERCERSBURG, Pa. - Vandals entered Mercersburg Elementary School last Thursday evening and caused an estimated $25,000 damage, Schools Superintendent Thomas Stapleford said Tuesday. Mercersburg Police have identified two juveniles, a 16-year old and a 14-year old, in the case, Stapleford said. He said other youths are believed to be involved, including one who "got scared" and left the building. "We know there were more than two," he said.

By SCOTT BUTKI / Staff Writer photo: KEVIN G. GILBERT / staff photographer TILGHMANTON - Parishioners at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church near Tilghmanton and Fairplay were surprised and upset Sunday morning to find that the exterior of their church had been defaced with graffiti. The church, which was built in 1854, was covered with spray-painted messages on three walls. Only the front of the church was free of the graffiti, which was mostly sexual and satanic in nature.

kimy@herald-mail.com SHARPSBURG - Rangers at Antietam National Battlefield are asking for the public's help in finding the thieves and vandals who have stolen and damaged Civil War plaques in Washington and Frederick counties. The plaques were cast in the 1890s and historians consulted Civil War veterans in creating the text and deciding their locations to mark the battle lines for the Battle of Antietam. "We could recast but it's another little piece of history that has disappeared," Antietam Superintendent John Howard said.

SHARPSBURG - Sharpsburg resident Rudolph DeLauney said the side of his house has been damaged by skateboarders, and teenagers who hang out in a bank parking lot next door often are loud, rowdy and yell at adults. Jefferson Security Bank has put up a "No loitering" sign to keep the kids out, but bank officials claim they aren't heeding the warning. Other residents say the activity goes beyond loitering. They say a gang of kids has been vandalizing private and public property and smashing car windows.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office was searching Monday for the vandals who painted swastikas and other graffiti on the girls softball scoreboard at Williamsport High School. Deputy 1st Class James Clay said an initial investigation appears to show that the graffiti was painted by juveniles, possibly students from Boonsboro High School. In addition to three small swastikas, vandals painted “Warriors” on the scoreboard and “BHS” on a nearby storage trailer, Clay said.

Hancock's candid cameras fight vandalism By KIMBERLY YAKOWSKI kimy@herald-mail.com HANCOCK - If you're in Hancock, you might want to smile for the camera. For the past few months, the town has used hidden video cameras to monitor activities in public areas that have been targets of vandals. continued Hancock has at least two cameras the town purchased with a federal grant secured by Police Chief Donald Gossage, Hancock Police Department Sgt. Shawn Tasker said.

Four men were charged Friday with damaging property and vehicles along Bakersville, Fairplay and Tommytown roads in the Boonsboro area, according to a Washington County Sheriff's Office news release. Dustin Keith Clipp, 18, of 17112 Snyders Landing Road in Sharpsburg; Dylan Matthew Martz, 19, of 6533 Gilardi Road in Boonsboro; Nathan Jered Meyers, 18, of 5528 Sharpsburg Pike in Sharpsburg; and Christopher Allen Feigley, 18, of 119 Robelei Drive in Ranson, W.Va., were charged in the incidents, which occurred Friday morning, deputies said.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office reported the following incidents from 8 a.m. Tuesday to 8 a.m. Wednesday: Vandalism was reported in the 17200 block of Carty Lane. A theft was reported in the 13600 block of Crayton Boulevard.

A Washington County Circuit Court judge gave a Williamsport man 24 hours of unsupervised probation for grabbing one of four boys who he alleged was vandalizing his home. Vincent Allen Strewsewski, 45, entered an Alford plea to second-degree assault, a misdemeanor carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years. An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt, but an acknowledgment that the state has enough evidence to gain a conviction. Judge Daniel P. Dwyer accepted the plea and gave Strewsewski probation before judgment and one day on probation.

The tombstones of an infant and a few World War II veterans were among about a dozen grave markers that were vandalized recently at the cemetery neighboring the Manor Church of the Brethren near Boonsboro. Pastor Joy Zepp said she received a call on Monday morning notifying her that vandals had pushed over the headstones. “I'm disgusted,” she said. “I don't understand why people have to destroy other people's property.” Roughly 12 tombstones, including those marking the graves of World War II veterans and an infant who died in 1918, were lying on the rain-soaked ground Tuesday.

A Hagerstown man charged earlier this month with breaking into and vandalizing his former apartment was back in Washington County District Court Monday, accused this time of raping a preteen girl. Ryan Lee Kleckner, 30, of 10806 Rosewood Drive, was being held without bond on charges of first- and second-degree rape, second-degree sex offense, indecent exposure and indecent assault. District Judge Ralph H. France II ordered Kleckner to remain in jail without bond following a bail-review hearing Monday.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office was searching Monday for the vandals who painted swastikas and other graffiti on the girls softball scoreboard at Williamsport High School. Deputy 1st Class James Clay said an initial investigation appears to show that the graffiti was painted by juveniles, possibly students from Boonsboro High School. In addition to three small swastikas, vandals painted “Warriors” on the scoreboard and “BHS” on a nearby storage trailer, Clay said.

A man has been arrested and charged with being part of a scrap-metal-theft ring that caused more than $300,000 in damages last month at South Jefferson Elementary School in Charles Town, W.Va., the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said Thursday. Gary Heflin Jr. was arrested Wednesday night where he was living at 34 Spring Court in Harpers Ferry, according to a sheriff's office news release. He was charged with grand larceny and felony destruction of property. Deputies said his bond was set at $25,000.

Thumbs up to Clear Spring and Williamsport elementary schools, Antietam Creek Watershed Alliance Inc., The Arc of Washington County Inc. and Recycled Crochet, winners of the 2011 Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Awards, presented Tuesday by the Washington County Board of Commissioners. Thumbs down to vandals who this week caused an estimated $60,000 in damage to a community mosque under construction in Chantilly, Va., breaking the building's first-floor windows with rocks.

Man, 19, charged with threatening to torch home BOONSBORO - A young man has been charged with threatening to burn down a home earlier this week in Boonsboro, the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said. Brandon Ray Brooks, 19, whose address was not provided, was charged with threat of arson and telephone misuse, according to a fire marshal's office news release. A homeowner in the 15800 block of Keedysville Road in Boonsboro told investigators Friday that someone threatened to burn down his house, the release said.