Three Teens Responsible for Construction Site and Equipment Vandalism
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| Enlarge Image Vandals caused an estimated $1,000,000 worth of damages at the Bass Pro facility in Independence, Mo. |
November 20, 2006 • Authorities have charged three teenagers in connection with the estimated $1 million vandalism that occurred on a Bass Pro construction site in
Bass Pro is an estimated $171 million project that includes a 160,000-square-foot store, a hotel, shops and restaurants, a city park, two miles of walking trails, a 15-acre lake, and a 60-foot waterfall. Construction officials arrived at their job site on September 9 to find nearly a dozen pieces of heavy equipment • including excavators, cranes, aerial lifts, and telehandlers • toppled, dented, or crushed. After a $25,000 reward was posted, a tipster led authorities to the three men.
The county prosecutor said the vandalism was costly. “You've got individual contractors, small companies that are not insured for this (kind of) damage, facing serious consequences, not just to themselves but to their employees,” he said.
When questioned by authorities, the young men told officials that they had been at a party when one of them suggested that they go play with some construction equipment. One of them had a key. All three told police that they did not intend to cause any damage, but that when one of them accidentally hit a trailer with a backhoe, they “all thought it was funny.” After that, they started ramming pieces of equipment together. None of them had worked at the site or for any of the companies involved.
Three contractors' had their equipment damaged during the incident. Although the vandals did set back some areas of the construction, officials still plan to have the Bass Pro store open by next fall.
For more information on event, read Rick Raef's guest column.
