Lakeport >> Children at the Lakeport Library had to sit through story time right next to a crime scene after vandals shattered the glass of the emergency exit door on Feb. 27.
“It was definitely a learning exercise for the children,” Lake County Library Director Chistopher Veach said.
He reported the incident at about 9 a.m. and at almost the exact same time, a nearly identical call to police came from Pet Country Grooming on Main Street, according to Lakeport Police Department (LPD) Chief Brad Rasmussen. The glass of the store’s south facing entrance door was smashed. However, neither the library nor store, which are only few blocks apart, had anything missing inside.
“Some people simply decide to destroy property at locations near each other, it may not have anything to do with the fact that they want target a specific location,” Rasmussen said. “There’s a good chance they are linked since they are in such close proximity,” but the police chief cannot say with certainty since nothing substantial was found at the scenes and both are still under investigation .
The LPD got its chance to gather the much needed evidence at the Lakeport Library on Friday after staff yet again walked in and found a broken window at the other end of the building.
Rasmussen said officers found a backpack on the ground near the window and also took prints from pieces of glass.
This act, Veach said, was actually the third of vandalism at the library. In late January, there was some damage done to the front doors, but at the time he thought nothing of it as nothing was taken from inside.
“I just wish people would stop breaking our windows so we can focus on books and library matters,” Veach said, adding that he and staff are considering installing security cameras as a long-term solution to the problem, but nothing yet is in the works.
Other reports of vandalism came in from Clear Lake High School and outside the Lake County Courthouse, Rasmussen said, but these do not appear to be linked.
A call came in at about 7:45 a.m. on Sunday about reflective pedestrian signs “smashed completely apart” outside of the courthouse, Rasmussen said. It appeared that someone drove through them, and based on the amount of damage it appeared to be intentional.
The high school sustained about $600 worth of damage on Monday after suspects used cafeteria trays to drift in the parking lot, ripped out a palm tree and damaged a light fixture and glass.
“Five cases in a week, we don’t see that every week, and we certainly don’t like people randomly destroying property,” Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen is asking anyone who may have information on the cases to call LPD officer Dustin Roderick at 263-5491.
“It’s unfortunate that we have people destroying public and private property” Rasumssen said. “It costs businesses and taxpayers a significant amount of money to pay the damage.”
