Residents frustrated by vandalism in South Bend neighborhood

by Kelli Cheatham (kcheatham@wsbt.com)

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Spray painted cars

Vandals tagged more than 30 cars along North Brookfield and O'Brien streets in South Bend on Tuesday, June 30, 2009. (WSBT photo)

By WSBT News1

Story Created: Jul 1, 2009 at 3:20 PM EST

Story Updated: Jul 3, 2009 at 10:43 AM EST

SOUTH BEND — A spray painting spree in one South Bend neighborhood caused thousands of dollars in damage. Vandals tagged more than 30 cars Tuesday night, all along North Brookfield and O'Brien streets on the city's northwest side.

Investigators said they aren't sure who did it, but their best guess — kids with nothing better to do.

Whoever it was, they hit car after car after car.

“[I] ran out here and looked at my Cadillac and was like ‘Ah! It's terrible!’” said Cedric Macon.

“They painted most of the cars on the block,” said Claude Neeley. “I don't think nobody's satisfied with it.”

Gold, black and white streaks spanned vehicles across several city blocks.

South Bend Police Capt. Phil Trent said somebody apparently came down the street either in a vehicle, on a bicycle or on foot and spray painted the cars as they went past.

Trent said he’s pretty sure the graffiti was not gang-related because it wasn’t consistent with other tagging marks police have seen throughout the city. Regardless, he said the person, or persons, who tagged the cars is in a great deal of trouble.

“I would assume at this point there's a felony charge awaiting whoever did this,” Trent told WSBT.

“This is crazy!” said Macon.

He used a cleaning product and some elbow grease to get rid of the paint. But he was still very frustrated Wednesday morning.

“This is going to happen and no one's ever going to get caught for this,” he said.

Neeley said vandals also keyed several vehicles in the neighborhood a few months ago.

“Nothing surprises me in this neighborhood,” said Theodora Brock.

Her car wasn’t on the street and did not get hit. Still, she and others in the neighborhood said they won’t give vandals a chance to do it again.

“I’m not going to park out here after this,” she said. “That's it. No way.”

“Never, never,” echoed Macon. “If I gotta park 10 cars in my back yard, that's where they're going!”

If you have any information about who might have done this, call Crime Stoppers or South Bend police.

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