BELGRADE — On Monday morning, residents in River Rock woke up to vandalized steering wheels, garages, and cars.
“I understand kids being kids but this is too far,” said Raven Spears, a River Rock resident. Spears and another resident, Taniya DeBell, have lived in River Rock for nearly four years. Both of their cars were vandalized this past weekend.
“It’s not just a simple ‘let’s go spray paint some vehicles, they can spray it off’ there’s time and money going to be invested in these problems,” said DeBell.
Spears says it wasn’t just the outside of her car that was impacted. Her vehicle was also rummaged through and the steering wheel was vandalized.
“It’s really sticky and I can’t use the buttons,” she said. It’s so severe that Spears might have to get the wheel replaced, which she says could cost at least $500.
“The inside of my vehicle — it’s going to cost me a lot more money to fix that and I’m really upset about that,” said Spears.
Spears and DeBell are one of many impacted residents. Sheriff Dan Springer says between 30 to 50 people had property vandalized or broken into past weekend.
“We caught one suspect; we have another we are looking for. These are juveniles,” he said.
Other residents also expressed their frustration about the alleged vandals.
“It’s frustrating because don’t you have anything better to do at 4:40?” said Zachary Macy, who has lived in River Rock for over a year. Both his car and his garage were vandalized early Monday morning. His garage had the phrases “Late night thugging” and “Dane 4L” spray painted on it, while car said “LNT.”
“They went through the glove box,” said Macy. “The center console was torn into and scattered about.”
Macy said nothing was taken from his car, but that his garage now doesn’t work.
“I’m not sure if they tried to get in and messed up the sensors or something,” said Macy.
WATCH: Overnight vandalism damages vehicles and homes in Belgrade neighborhood again.
Macy and other residents said River Rock has traditionally been a safe neighborhood.
“In a neighborhood like this, there’s no reason to lock our cars,” said Macy.
“It’s kind of old school, where if you need a cup of sugar… come knock on the door,” said DeBell.
Now, these residents have no choice but to invest in safety precautions.
“Ring cameras. That’s probably the best thing we can do,” said DeBell.
Sheriff Springer urges River Rock residents to report any suspicious activity and stay alert.
