Vandals hit almost a dozen businesses over the weekend, smashing windows and causing thousands of dollars in damage but they didn't steal a thing.
The vandals hit businesses at 144th street near Oak View Mall. Any motive is unclear but the damage was the same. And it appears they took nearby rocks or bricks and threw them into windows and doors.
“It's a great area,” said James Casale.
He is the store manager at Happy Mattress at a strip mall near Oak View.
“It's a little bit secluded over here, when it's late at night like that. I know a lot of the businesses lights go down,” said Casale.
He says that may be why vandals hit every business here early Saturday morning.
“There is glass everywhere, glass all the way down the strip mall, on the sidewalks,” said Casale.
They threw something at his window but only broke the first pane.
“But it's frustrating when things like this happen and you think that you're in a really good area,” said Casale.
But Happy Mattress wasn’t the only store hit. Just next door, Subway, a video game store, Oakview Dental and a tile store. The vandals hit even more businesses across the street.
“Rob and I thought it was a little twister, just how everything was looking and how much damage,” said service manager at Brakes Plus, Dan McGurk.
McGurk got called in early Saturday morning.
“About a third of it outside, the rest of it was in the show room,” said McGurk.
He and his co-workers cleaned up the glass and boarded up the window. Next door at Advance Auto Parts several vehicle back windows were broken.
And the vandals continued the damage at Longhorn Steakhouse and two other restaurants along the way.
“I was mostly concerned about robbery, something like that,” said Casale. “You get over it and you move on I guess.”
Most of the businesses hit had rock landscaping close by. The vandals struck commercial windows with two panes of glass, which made it difficult to break in. But that also means it’s pricey to replace. Most businesses had a couple thousand dollars in damage.
There was also a brief power outage Saturday morning. That may be why alarms didn't go off to alert police.
One store manager told WOWT police were questioning five teenagers, seen in surveillance video. Police could not confirm anyone was arrested.
