RCMP still investigating complaints of spray-painted vehicles

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

The RCMP say there is nothing to connect the victims of a recent spray-painting spree in the centre part of the town, except that they were all on the receiving end of a random – and unusual for this area – case of vandalism.

Last weekend the RCMP received a half-dozen complaints of vehicles having been spray-painted, although the number of vehicles damaged outnumbered the calls made to police. One property owner, for instance, reported that three vehicles had been vandalized.

The calls were made to police on Dec. 15, all reporting that the damage had occurred sometime over night. Some of the areas hit included Ellis Avenue, Chester Street and Brunswick Street.

Some of the spray-painting included profanity. Constable Mark Connell says in one case the word “die” was spray-painted onto a vehicle.

Since vandalism of this sort is unusual, and because of the volume that occurred at the same time, the RCMP suspect the same person(s) were responsible. The police are still conducting their investigation. “It is an unusual occurrence and we don’t know what motivated it,” says Const. Connell, who says in at least one case, the paint was able to be washed off, leaving little damage to the vehicle. He was unsure whether this was the case for all of the vehicles that were targeted.

Aside from these incidents, the weekend of Dec. 15-16 turned out to be a busy one for the town detachment, which received 40 calls for police service. One complaint included a vehicle on fire on Ellis Avenue. The RCMP are investigating this incident as a deliberately-set fire.

Const. Connell says to have 40 calls for service in a two-day period is a rather high number.