Police in search of Westwood vandals
A group of vandals known to police as the Westwood Warriors have wreaked havoc on the Westwood neighborhood over the last week, vandalizing 21 cars and destroying property.
Police say they have a good idea of the identities of the members of the upper middle-class gang who they believe are responsible for the thousands of dollars worth of damage. The spray painted letters “WWW” have been found at the scene of many of the crimes, standing for the Westwood Warriors. Police believe the vandals are residents of the Westwood area and hope to make arrests in the case by the first of the week.
The vandalisms were first discovered Wednesday morning when residents awoke to find their vehicles had been spray painted with vulgarities. Among the early toll was a police cruiser, parked near a patrolman’s house. There were also reports of vandalized mailboxes and other minor forms of vandalism. Thursday morning brought the same results as even more Westwood residents found their vehicles vandalized, once again with spray paint. Hit hardest were residents of Dogwood Trail, Boyd Avenue and Sioux Trail. Boyd Christian School was also vandalized.
By Friday morning, the vandals had started a new trend by using multi-colored spray paint to vandalize vehicles. Four vehicles were hit sometime Thursday night or Friday morning, bringing the three-day toll to 21.
“They used all kinds of colors on my car,” said Christine Milanovich of Womack Street, noting she found her new car spray painted with vulgarities. Milanovich said she was able to scrub the paint off, but damage was still left behind on her vehicle which will have to be repaired.
“I was very upset,” Milanovich said. “I felt violated. I hope they catch whoever is doing this or, in the meantime, warn people about what’s going on so they can be on the lookout.”
McMinnville Police Captain Denton said while police are confident they know who some of the vandals are, it is still important for residents to be on the lookout, since members of the group could strike again while police are generating enough evidence to charge the suspects.
“We need people to report any unusual activity at night there, no matter how seemingly minor it is,” Denton said. “We will be patrolling but the people who live over there know their neighborhood better than anybody so they can tell what is normal.”
Denton said the evidence has led investigators to believe the vandals are traveling on foot and are very familiar with the neighborhood. Police also believe the vandalisms are the work of teen-agers.
Anyone having information on the vandalisms may contact investigators at 473-3386. Anyone wishing to report unusual activity in the neighborhood should contact emergency dispatch at 668-7000 so a patrol car can be dispatched to check out the report immediately.