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Gene Kennedy reportingA Vandal goes on a glass-breaking rampage with a baseball bat, hitting several cars in one West Jordan neighborhood.
It began around 3:00 this morning. Police say an individual went around with an aluminum bat, smashing windows in 13 vehicles and at an LDS Church building down the street. West Jordan police are working fresh leads to catch the culprit.
Lt. Bob Shober West Jordan Police Dept.: "It's every car parked along side the road."
Danny Young / Vandalism Victim: "It's worthless and they didn't steal anything, they just came by to break window. It means they don't have enough to do."
On the vandals' "to do" list: Not only cars, but also the L-D-S church at the end of the block. A window was smashed here.
Lt. Bob Shober, West Jordan Police Dept.: "One of the witnesses said there was a kid about 5' 9" slender build, appeared to be intoxicated, had like an aluminum bat, and was just pissed at the world and hit every car he came upon walking down the road."
While there's no sign of the person who did this, police spent a good part of the morning looking for the culprit, searching the streets with K-9s. But who knows if they'll catch the vandal.
All the victims feel they can count on is forking out their own money to pay for the damage.
Jason Keler, Vandalism Victim: "It's just devastating the money you have to pay, deductibles. Most of the time it not covered by the insurance company. Something so small you don't want to claim it. Justa waste of your money and time, it's frustrating."
A vehicle owner actually saw the suspect and chased him, but did not catch him. Police are still looking for him this morning. He's described as 5 foot 9 inches tall, wearing dark clothes, with a thin build.
Police say it sounds like the vandal drove up to the vehicles, hit them with the bat, or walked right up. It happened very quickly.
An interesting twist in the story: West Jordon Police arrested a man for a home invasion robbery that was very close to the area where all those car vandalisms took place.
Police are looking into whether the two crimes are connected. The man arrested is an adult so it's possible the vandalism suspect is not a teenager.
