Plains vandal to be charged with felony
Coming into work early in the morning is never an easy feat, but for seven business owners in Plains last Tuesday, June 15, the morning was made even more difficult as they were greeted by a slew of vandalism on the outside of their business fronts.
Coming into work early in the morning is never an easy feat, but for seven business owners in Plains last Tuesday, June 15, the morning was made even more difficult as they were greeted by a slew of vandalism on the outside of their business fronts.
The suspect in questions, who allegedly vandalized the outside of seven businesses on Main Street in Plains, is set to be charged with a felony for criminal mischief according to Plains Police Chief Shawn Emmett.
Colyer Oil, Rocky Mountain Bank, Coldwell Banker, Mountain West Clothing, Garden Gift and Floral, the Mint Casino and High Plains Bar and Grill each saw some degree of vandalism on the outside of their stores.
Emmett already had a suspect in mind last Tuesday after reviewing video tapes, which caught the suspect on camera.
“The video cameras were a big help and it kind of clicked along. We got the complaint and then looked at video footage and followed that up and while I was watching it someone identified the subject by his name.
Everything fell into place,” said Emmett.
Emmett has been waiting on businesses to get a total amount of pecuniary damages in order to figure out whether the suspect should be charged with a misdemeanor or felony. If damages exceed $1,500 the suspect can be charged with a felony. Total damages for all seven vandalized businesses was a little over $3,000.
“I don’t think they will arrest him. I think once I file everything to the county attorney, she’ll summons him to court,” said Emmett, who reinforced that there will not be an arrest at this point in time, although the suspect will be charged with the crime in the coming weeks.
The most costly damages occurred outside of Mountain West Clothing as two flower pots owned by McGowans Grocery were demolished. Erika Lawyer, Office Manager at McGowans, said they took a low estimate and each pot cost around $600 a piece.
Lawyer said it took employees four hours to clean up the damage. In addition to the broken flower pots, Lawyer said one of the glass doors leading into Mountain West Clothing and Calamity, Anne and Belle was scratched during the vandalism and will most likely have to be replaced.
“It’s just so stupid, if you want to have a temper tantrum I tell my kids to go punch a pillow. People do stupid stuff and don’t realize how expensive it can add up to be and what a mental blow it is to come to work in the morning and have this huge mess,” said Lawyer. “I don’t think we’ll get any restitution. It’s just a loss for us.”
For Pamela Lynch, Co-owner of Garden Gift and Floral it was anger that someone in her hometown could commit such an act of vandalism. Garden Gift and Floral had two planters destroyed totaling approximately $150 in damages.
“We were angry that it happened and that someone in our town would do that,” said Lynch.