Junior Kaitlyn Gooch walks out to her truck after school to find two long lines etched into the side of her vehicle stretching from the hood to the tail light.
“I texted my brother to make sure it was new,” Gooch said. “I guess someone hates me.”
Since the first football game, students have noticed their vehicles being vandalized with lines or slander grinded into their paint. MISD and Mansfield Police have open investigations, but have not identified any suspects.
Legacy has more than 80 video cameras, but the cameras have difficulty reaching the back side of the parking lots.
“The police said the camera wasn’t pointed at my truck at the time,” Gooch said, “so I have no idea who did it.”
The cameras are motion activated, so they pan in the different directions.
“All the cameras are functional, but they only record movement,” Officer Daryle Ryan said. “They may not be focused in the direction of the crime. To prevent future incidents, kids need to park closer to the school because there are no trees blocking the camera view and there will be a better picture of the cars.There are lots of students outside walking, and it’s hard to see them the farther away they are.”
Other vandalism includes stereo systems punched in, tires slashed and radio antennas broken off the front hood of the car.
“I think that’s really sketchy,” junior Austin Hebert said. “I just hope it doesn’t happen to me.”
Punishment for an offense like this depends on the monetary value that the vandalism has caused the owners of the vehicles.
“The least punishment for this is BIC,” Principal Shelly Butler said. “If this turns out to be a felony, the student may be expelled.”
If anyone have any information on the keyings, break ins or other cases of vandalism, contact the MISD police or file a Crimestoppers report here.
