WEST TOLEDO -- Some people in west Toledo are outraged over a streak of vandalism in their neighborhood. Some one slashed tires on the cars parked in the 3800th block of Hazelhurst Avenue, leaving behind hundreds of dollars in damage.
While most of the residents on hazelhurst were asleep Saturday night into Sunday morning, vandals slashed the tires on more than a dozen cars. "It's young. It's immature. It's stupid," said Hayward Shands, a Hazelhurst resident. "It's costing people a lot of money."
Jeremy Davis thinks he missed the vandals by minutes. "Came home about 3 o'clock in the morning. The tires were all up on the cars," said Davis. "I came out about 3:30 to have a cigarette, every one of the tires up and down the street were flat."
Neighbors say vandalism like this has been happening here for months. "Tires are the latest thing, they've been scratching the paint, putting mustard and ketchup on the cars, breaking into anything they can get into," said Shands.
"I've had six bikes stolen out of my garage," said Ray Jastel, a Hazelhurst neighbor. "The last one that was stolen, my youngest son, who the bike belonged to, was standing there when the guy took it."
Many even think they know who's responsible -- teen-agers in the neighborhood with nothing better to do. "One of the guys down the street told me a lady had seen them going down the street and yelled, and they ran," said Jastel. "If they don't have something better to do, there isn't a curfew, there's not a way to keep kids in the house."
Police have been called out numerous times, but it's always after the vandals are long-gone. Now, residents say enough is enough. "Any young kid that's out at that time of night, I think the police need to stop them, pull them over, give them a curfew violation, whatever the case may be," said Davis.
Until then, neighbors are watching out for themselves and each other.
