Some 14 cars had their windows smashed out Saturday
night in the San Geronimo Valley, in a hit-and-run spree that sheriff’s
deputies believe was carried out by vandals in a moving car.
Deputies said one of the vandals could have been sitting
in the bed of a truck or leaning out the window with some clublike object,
such as a baseball bat, while another drove. Three cars vandalized in
Kentfield, the deputies added, were likely the work of the same group.
The cars, spread throughout Woodacre, Lagunitas, and
Forest Knolls, were hit around midnight. Most residents didn’t
discover the damage until Sunday morning, though some called the sheriff’s
office Saturday night after hearing their windows shatter.
After analyzing tiremarks in the road next to one
of the damaged cars, deputies believe the vandals were driving a dual-wheel
pickup truck.
‘Relatively rare’ here
Sheriff’s Lt. Scott Anderson said that vandalism
on such a scale, while "relatively rare," is not entirely
uncommon. There are generally one or two similar incidents a year, he
said, although mailboxes tend to be more popular targets.
"That is so rude," said one Woodacre resident
whose station wagon’s rear passenger window was broken. "I
can’t turn this into my insurance. I spent the best part of two
days getting all the glass out." One of those, she said, was her
day off. She hadn’t planned to spend it cleaning her car.
"Anybody with their right head on their shoulders
knows what a great inconvenience it is to have your car window broke
out," the resident said. "So it’s somebody who’s
really immature and doesn’t have their own car – that’s
my guess."
Other crimes
Forest Knolls resident Pamalah MacNeily said she’d
like to put out a reward leading to the vandals’ arrest. A side
window on MacNeily’s van was smashed, and there were dents up and
down one side of the vehicle’s body. MacNeily and her husband paid
$250 to replace the window. Bodywork on the car, she estimated, would
cost about $4,000.
The vandals also rammed the stone wall in front of
MacNeily’s house several times with their car, causing part of
the wall to collapse.
"It feels like to do this much damage, some kids
had to have a lot of rage," MacNeily said, adding that she’s
concerned that vandalism in the Valley may be on the upswing.
In August, the interior of the San Geronimo post office
was left a blackened shell after vandals set fire to overflowing bins
of junk mail (investigators ruled the blaze was arson, but never found
those responsible).
The radio in MacNeily’s other car – the
one left untouched Saturday night – was stolen earlier this year.
After that, she said, she and her husband began locking their cars at
night. Through the previous 11 years they’d lived in the Valley,
the cars had always been left open.
Saturday night’s string of attacks, MacNeily
said, did nothing to make her feel more secure.
"This is our valley where we live and we feel
safe in it, and to have kids need to dump their rage out like that is
unnerving."