A tennis court net was burned during recent vandalism to Lions Park in Cumberland.
Submitted photo
CUMBERLAND — Police have identified four male juvenile suspects in the investigation into the extensive vandalism at a park on Cumberland’s east side last weekend.
The damage to Lions Park, discovered shortly after sunrise April 3, included a tennis court net and playground slide that had been set ablaze, a smashed electrical panel, a toppled drinking fountain, damage to park lighting, ripped-up grills, a destroyed bulletin board and pet waste stations, stolen trail signage, and graffiti on multiple surfaces, including a mural on an underpass along Buck Creek Trail to the south of the park. Early estimates on repairing the vandalism were around $20,000.
Detective Sgt. Mark Waggoner with the Cumberland Metropolitan Police Department said all of the suspects are high school-age. He said criminal mischief is a likely charge along with possibly arson and theft.
A trail camera the police department put in the park last summer proved effective in the investigation, Waggoner said.
“Not the best quality, but better than nothing,” he said of the images captured of the four suspects, which were posted to the department’s social media.
On Monday, those images were already drawing tips, he continued, and by Tuesday two of the suspects had been identified. The other two were identified on Wednesday.
“This was heavily relied on by community tips,” Waggoner said.
He added that kids around the same age as the suspects upset with what happened notified their parents and police.
“That was a really good feeling, to hear,” Waggoner said.
And instrumental to the investigation.
“Even just names and some social media handles pretty much gets you to where we’re able to identify them,” Waggoner said, adding that the school resource officer at the school the suspects attend helped confirm identities via school records.
Waggoner said as he and fellow officers were preparing to go to the suspects’ school on Wednesday, one of their mothers made that trip unnecessary. He said the woman realized her son may have been involved in the vandalism and talked to him about it, after which he admitted to taking part and accompanied her to the police station to talk to officers. The mother informed the parents of the other suspects, he continued, leading to two more to come forward. While three of the suspects cooperated, one declined to be interviewed by police, he said.
“They don’t sound like bad kids,” Waggoner said. “They just made bad decisions.”
Waggoner said it felt good to bring closure to the investigation.
“Obviously everyone’s kind of knee-jerk reaction was anger when this happened,” he said. “This was our most used park hands down and packed very weekend, every weeknight someone’s there doing something, so taking that resource away even for just a night or in a little way really does impact us.”
