BB gun vandals on loose in town

Lt. General Samuel D. Cox has his new stars pinned in place by his wife, Tammy, and father, retired Air Force Maj. Jerry Cox, during ceremonies in Charleston.

Lt. General Samuel D. Cox has his new stars pinned in place by his wife, Tammy, and father, retired Air Force Maj. Jerry Cox, during ceremonies in Charleston.

In what has become an offshoot of Christmas, BB gun wielding vandals left a trail of destruction across the city over the weekend.

“We’ve had problems like this several times before,” said McMinnville Police Cpt. Bryan Denton. “This time of year, we find it’s some kid or teen-ager who got a BB gun for Christmas and is taking it too far.”

The vandals have already rolled up a tab of well over $1,000 in damage from a number of car, business and house windows shot out between this past Friday and Sunday. In one case, an employee was inside Relax Tax on South Chancery and heard a window break from the impact of a BB.

In all, nine reports were taken by police during the weekend. The damage included windows at McMinnville Aluminum at Depot Bottom, a car outside Morgan & Young Auto Parts and a car across the street from the store on Beersheba Street, Kwik Trip on Beersheba Street, a van on West End Avenue, Relax Tax, a residence on Red Road and nearby J&G Development, and a car on Spring Street.

Lawmen have learned from experience that the vandalism sprees often continue for more than one weekend, often not ending until the vandals are caught. In prior cases where arrests have been made, the perpetrators were given probation but also were forced to make restitution for their destruction. Those caught in the past have been exclusively teen-agers and in one case the perpetrators were forced to make $10,000 restitution.

“We’re taking this very seriously because it’s leaving behind a lot of damage,” Denton said.