Cape police investigate spray-paint vandalism

Cape Girardeau police are investigating a series of vandalism incidents in the northwest part of the city.

Sgt. Joey Hann said in a text message to the Southeast Missourian that police received multiple reports of spray-paint damage, starting Tuesday around 6 a.m.

Vandals spray painted a garage in the 3200 block of Lakewood Drive and a vehicle in the 2100 block of Yorktown Drive. A dentist's sign was spray painted and damaged in the 1200 block of North Cape Rock Drive.

Damage also was reported in the 1900 block of Ritter Drive. Hann wrote that there were reports of "lots of additional minor vandalism."

Cape Girardeau resident Dennis Bell said his black Tahoe, parked outside his Yorktown Drive home, was sprayed with yellow paint. A white car across the street also was spray painted, he said Tuesday.

Bell said he has a security camera which is motion activated. But the camera only captured video of a vehicle leaving the scene at 1:39 a.m. Tuesday.

He said a Facebook post of graffiti on a garage door in the Lakewood area likely is the work of the same vandals because they involved similar colors to those used on the Yorktown vehicles.

Bell said it appears the vandals, shown in a security video posted on Facebook, "knew where they were going."

Bell, who spent part of Tuesday cleaning the spray paint off his vehicle, said he doesn't know why vandals targeted his Tahoe. "I think it was just opportunity," he said.

Laura Jackson said her garage door at her home on Lakewood Drive was spray painted. Her home security camera captured video of the vandals. The video showed the incident happened at 1:45 a.m.

Jackson said she posted the video on social media in hopes that someone will recognize the vandals and tell the police. "Thank goodness for cameras these days," she said.

"At least, they didn't break any windows," she added.

"It is disheartening to see that people don't respect your property," Jackson said.

Hann, the police officer, texted that no arrests have been made. "As always, we are asking for anyone in the public to contact us with any information," he said.

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