Danville police are investigating a pair of spray-painting incidents that occurred within minutes of each other, as well as other vandalisms that happened over the past few days. Police Chief Chris Wenzel said the spray-paintings occurred Feb. 2 when two vehicles were painted with graffiti in the area of Ambleside Court and Indian Home Road.
Other incidents were reported throughout the week on Camino Tassajara, Summerfield Court, Love Lane and near Monte Vista High School.
Wenzel said when the weather warms up, it sometimes brings an increase in such incidents and the culprits are primarily children or teenagers. “It’s disappointing that with so many opportunities in the Tri-Valley area that these people choose to do this sort of thing,” he said.
Wenzel said that while his department is looking into the perpetrators of these crimes, members of the community can play a part in stopping this trouble. “It’s going to take a total community effort if we’re going to keep our town as nice as it is,” he said. “We can’t be everywhere.”
A good start is just to keep an eye on your own block. “If you see a group of people in a car or standing around at 1 or 2 in the morning, you should probably do something,” Wenzel said. Take down a license plate number and vehicle model and call the police with the information. “If you see something like that, let us know. We’ll make the decision on whether or not it’s suspicious.”
Wenzel said if people were aware of what is happening in their neighborhood and communicate that with the police, the criminals could be arrested. Another deterrent is light. “Keep your driveway well lit,” said Wenzel. “Vandals like to work under cover of darkness. Take that away and it lessens the chance of something happening.”
–Geoff Gillette
