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Joe Hornaday
Vandals Take One Night To Ruin Years Of Work
The new bridge and walking path on County Road 500 S. near County Road 220 SW., part of a $2 million county project and a year and a half’s worth of work, was trashed and pulverized late Tuesday night.
According to the Decatur County Sheriff’s Department, a call was received Wednesday morning from highway superintendent Mark Mohr, who explained that the area around the new bridge and specifically the new green space at the intersection had been badly damaged.
Tuesday night, one truck tore into the grassy area around the new bridge, performing “doughnuts” and digging countless tire-wide trenches into the wet, soft earth created by the rain. The estimated cost of the damage is about $4,000, the result of the landscaping being heavily destroyed. A nearby back hoe and trailer were also pelted and covered with mud from the renegade truck.
Following its foray into the bridge area, the truck also had ventured into nearby property owned by Dan Fledderman, who said he had seen this kind of thing before. The truck had climbed a hill on his property, circled around two trees and tore through his crop before heading back down the hill.
Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Woodhull also said that the area had been hit by vandals in the same manner.
“It’s happened several times,” he said. “It’s a mess down there and it’s going to continue to happen.”
The timing of the incident could not have been worse. The property was to change hands and Decatur County was scheduled to take over the property on Wednesday morning, following the construction process.
Nearby neighbors Marvin Giddings and Robert Ogle were considerably upset with the vandals who tore up the new grass space, but weren’t surprised.
“This is uncalled for,” Giddings said, noting he suspected the truck was a four-wheel drive. “This happens all the time. It’s every time it rains. This is nothing new down here.”
Giddings noted that he could hear the destruction taking place at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night.
Ogle said that he had heard the truck doing doughnuts at the same time. He said he put his dog in his truck and drove down to see what was happening. He wasn’t able to determine who was driving the truck or what kind of model it was.
“This is just stupid, childish,” Ogle said shaking his head.
Both Giddings and Ogle agreed that the county had the area looking good before it was decimated by the combination of rain and hooligans.
“They had it looking really nice,” Giddings said.
The investigation is ongoing and will continue, with Deputy Woodhull at the helm.
“This is just going to end up costing all of us,” Giddings said.
Sheriff Daryl Templeton explained that the area’s neighbors had come together to offer a reward for apprehension of the vandals who caused the damage to the bridge area and have been wreaking havoc there for years.
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