Speaking of ‘Paint Night,’ have you gone past the police station lately?
Every police vehicle at the station was doused with white paint
and spray painted.
A few tires were slashed, and a couple windows now sport a bright
blue “08.”
In a bold and calculated move, the painters struck Chief Matt Haney’s police car….at his home.
Cops reporter Josh Farley put a story online (see below) shortly
after he was informed of the Tuesday night strike.
I ran down and got some photos. A Seattle TV news crew was already on the scene, giving all of the Puget Sound region something to shake their heads about.
The police truck (above) was jacked up to remove and repair its slashed tires. White latex paint had been dumped on the roof and allowed to spill onto the windshield and side windows.
An officer glared from behind a bright blue ’08’ sprayed on his vehicle’s driver’s side window as he headed out of the parking lot.
A guy on a motorcycle stopped by and predicted there’ll be hell to pay when the police catch their painters.
But, as of now, police have no suspects.
BI Police Cars Vandalized, Including the
Chief’s
By Josh Farley
Eight police vehicles, including the chief’s, were spray-painted with graffiti early this morning, and the vehicles’ tires were slashed.
Sometime between 1:45 and 3:10 a.m., suspects painted and slashed the tires of seven cars in the police parking lot near the ferry terminal.
The damage to Police Chief Matt Haney’s car was done at his home, Bainbridge Deputy Police Chief Mark Duncan said.
The damage is estimated to be $12,000, he said, and police believe Bainbridge High School’s graduating seniors may be to blame.
“What a ridiculous waste of tax dollars,” Duncan said, adding: “It’s a sad legacy for the class of 2008 to leave behind.”
Duncan declined to say what the suspects wrote on the cars, but he said police are following a number of leads to track down the culprits. Two of the cars in the parking lot at the station were brand new, he added.
Two Bainbridge officers earlier this week had paint sprayed on their vehicles after driving over white paint, part of the island’s tradition of “Paint Night,” in which graduating seniors write celebratory messages on roadways. The “Welcome to Bainbridge Island” sign near Agate Pass Bridge and the high school’s track was also marked with “08” and “2008.”
Given the recent strike against BIPD (authority) with slashed tires and vandalism, readers will recall what occured in Beslan Russia with an attack at the Beslan Middle School. Disarming the security and fire alarms at Sakai Middle School is serious business. 330 student were slain with countless others injured. Can’t happen you say.
(From the Bainbridge Police blotter)
June 5
Cut wires: A Sakai Intermediate School administrator reported that 25 wires in a utility service box had been cut, leaving the school without fire or security alarm service.
Whoever did this had to have returned home with paint on themselves.
Looks like it’s time for the BIHS seniors to arrange a work party and do some clean up around the island. They’ve take a kitschy and quaint tradition about five steps too far.