KAILUA-KONA — Police have increased their patrols after a vandalism spree was discovered in Waimea, resulting in excess of $10,000 in damage.
“It’s just a destruction of property,” Capt. Sherry Bird with Hawaii Police Department said Friday.
Bird said the vandalism occurred overnight Nov. 8. The most severe damage was done to the restroom at the Waimea Park Bandstand where at least one toilet and sink were smashed. The surrounding area outside the bathroom was also trashed.
Because of the destruction, the facility has been closed until it can be repaired. While vandalism occurred at several locations in town, Bird said, nothing appeared to be stolen.
The Waimea Elementary and Middle Schools were also victims of vandalism. Janice English, middle school principal, said three windows were damaged on the new Science Technology Engineering Aina Math (STEAM) building, which houses the maker space robotics lab.
The STEAM building was finished in January.
Three of the double-paned windows were smacked repeatedly with rocks, causing them to splinter. The cost to repair them, English said, is $1,000 each. In the meantime, the windows have been boarded up.
“The kids feel violated,” English said Friday. “Their building and campus was violated. They feel sad that someone would vandalize their building.”
The destruction is evidence of anger, English added.
There were also four screens ripped out of windows on portables.
The chaos didn’t stop at the middle school. There was a mess discovered at the elementary school, where preschool toys and signs were overturned and a lock to a shed holding tools was broken. Nothing was taken.
“There was no logic to it,” English added. “There was no pattern to it.”
The principal said it will take six weeks for the windows to be repaired. The school also plans to add $20,000 worth of interior and exterior surveillance cameras on campus.
“I would say kids are disappointed that a small group of people would create such havoc in their community,” English said.
Aside from the park restroom and schools, there were other smaller instances of vandalism throughout Waimea on Nov. 8, which included broken building and car windows.
Patti Cook, president of the Waimea Community Association, recalled broken windows and messes caused in various places along Mamalahoa Highway and Kawaihae Road.
Cook said broken windows were found at the Firehouse Gallery at Waimea Arts Council and the Waimea ReStore Habitat for Humanity. The back window of a van was smashed at the Lily Yoshimatsu Senior Center. Cook said the vehicle is used to assist kupuna in transportation.
Cook added the culprits rifled through items on the St. James thrift shop porch and turned the table over.
Two portable toilets were also turned over in the Waimea Nature Park.
The door to Village Burger at the Parker Ranch Center had two scratches on it. According to police, it appeared to be made with a pry bar tool.
More recently, Bird said a vehicle by the post office had its window damaged.
“I’m not aware of a series of property damage of this greatness in such a short amount of time,” Bird said. “Everyone is disappointed that someone would do this. It’s sad that someone would do this.”
Cook added she got news of vandalism on Oct. 17 when someone sent her a picture of a damaged sign at North Hawaii Community Hospital.
“It’s been an ongoing thing,” Cook said. “We’re asking people to report if they hear or see something.”
Cook said the damage done to the town is heartbreaking.
“We need to be focused on our kids and not cleaning up vandalism,” she said.
Anyone with information or tips about the incidents of vandalism can call Hawaii Police at 935-3311.
Some time in October several windows at Annunciation Catholic Church were also broken.
“The destruction is evidence of anger”
Nah, this wasn’t something that resulted from some kind of grudge or personal demon, it was just kids who thought destroying stuff was fun. I’ve been there, in fact, I did far more damage to a fraternity in one night than this (they kicked us out of their kegger). We routinely destroyed things, well into college, it was just something fun to do when drunk and stoned.
I grew out of it, and nowadays I’m as pissed as every other citizen at destruction of property. But it’s not some kind of big deal, it was probably just three or four teenagers drinking. There’s no way to stop it, you fix the damage and move on, and hopefully so will they. None of my destructive cohorts went on to become arch criminals.
It is not necessarily an either/or. What you describe as “fun to do when drunk” comes from a dark place. I am sure we are all relieved that you grew out of it, but, respectfully, I would suggest there was something deeper going on with you than “fun”.
Dark place, get real, teenagers do stuff like this routinely, if that’s not part of your childhood, swell, I ran with a rougher crowd apparently. But behavior like this, compared to what goes with teenagers in gangs? It’s nothing. Sure, these kids should get slapped down for this stuff, if they get caught, but it’s not serious crime. Irrational exuberance, not psychopaths.
Just because it happens “routinely” doesn’t make it acceptable. Anyone who thinks this type of behavior is okay is sick. As a teenager my friends and I participated in all kinds pranks, however vandalism was never a part of it. In fact the local police never bothered us for under-age drinking because we weren’t considered troublemakers.
Who said it was acceptable? I’m just saying it’s normal to have kids do stupid things. So, I broke some stuff, and you broke the law by drinking under age. Neither one of us were saints it seems, duh. At least we weren’t strapped and selling meth. The article made it sound like this was some total outrage, and it’s not, it’s just kids screwing up.
We need to have a Psch Study done on ALL the people of the BI to understand this.
Growing disparity breeds anger and destruction.
Your comment is valid.
There are social and economic disparities.
Maybe a social or an economic scientist can give an insight.
Vandalism is a form of protest.
Let our civic leaders figure it out.
Vandalism is a result of no consequences for their actions. It is not a protest. It is a sign of no personal responsibility or pride in one’ s self or one’s community. That is not born from others. Nor is it someone else’s fault. There are plenty of people that are poor that don’t act like punks…
There has always been disparity but there was also respect. This type of stuff simply should not be explained or tolerated. Portland went down this road of “understanding” and all it has it has fostered the anarchist group Antifa taking over city blocks. You can also take a look at Chicago and what happened when the police had respect taken from them and understanding forced.
Some community service and restitution will usually fix the kids being kids, if it doesn’t they will sometimes move on to bigger and better crimes.