Brand new house was egged and cherry bombed!

[PhilipCal]

Brand New House

Believe I know how you feel. I'd file a report if only for two reasons. One, make your local P.D. aware of the problem. Two, for insurance purposes. On #2, be aware of your deductable, and decide if you want to make a claim. If you don't, that takes you back to reason #1. Realistically, based on what you have now, your local P.D. probably isn't going to be able to apprehend the perpetrators. A camera system that could ID the perps would probably be a good start,--if the little clowns didn't disable,(read destroy it). It's a lousy situation at best, and one any homeowner can sympathise with.

[Creeker]

...

If the pranksters were to come back but cleverly covered themselves (hooded sweatshirts, big baggy clothing) but their body outline was still identifiable would that evidence still be valid? If their face was not readily identifiable, do I have nothing on my hands?
...

Gee, I don't know, Doc. That would be on a case by case basis. I imagine that if there were a particular body morph, ie., an amputated limb, one leg obviously shorter than the other, a sixth finger on one hand ... that it might be possible to be effective, but you would need to be a ble to convince a Jury beyond a reasonable doubt to get a conviction if there weren't some type of admission of guilt.

Catching them down the street wearing the same clothing as was seen on video very soon after the incident occurred would be stronger evidence, as well as distinctive detail of the vehicle, ie, drivers rear parking lense broken, missing vent window, with the helpful pieces being found on your property... compliments of a Daisy Red Rider.

Paintball comes to mind as being less destructive, but more difficult to deploy and more easily defeated by Mr. Vandal...

[Rbadgett]

Man, I'm sorry to hear about your house. I hope that doesn't happen to my house when its complete. As far as finding them, it's pretty hopeless. A while back, something similar happened to me (we had a big thing going on with a trust/will, and we got more than some people, and they got pretty mad, so I assume this was them...but). Somebody decided to post ADT, Brinks, For Sale, For Rent, and Security One signs in our yard and beat on our door. They broke our door completely from the frame (not off the hinges, the frame itself separated) and sped off. I ran out of my room (unarmed), approached the door slowly, looked through the peep-hole and all I saw was a few signs, I opened the door cautiously to find around 10 signs in our front yard. We called the cops, they came out and said there is no possible way of finding the kids. I said I wanted them to pay for the door. The cop replied "There's no way to find them". I asked them to take fingerprints as metal signs HAD to have some sort of print on them, and they refused. So in all, my parents had to pay for the door, we had to deal with it, and live in fear that someone was trying to give us a warning (security signs in your yard is pretty freaky). Not to mention my father is a Vietnam Vet, and that messed him up pretty bad. Kinda BS all the way around, but I guess punk-*** kids dont matter

Edit: I forgot to finish my post.

Best bet: get a security system and maybe a few gate/door cameras. I guarantee it wont happen again if you have cameras.

[sgttom]

there's been a lot of good responses thus far. go file a report with the pd or so to cover yourself. in CA, if the "damages" go over a certain amount, it is a felony.

on the mortar... you have the one piece, how about the main tube it was fired out of? can you locate that. getting prints is best from that piece. prints are only as good as what is one file to be compared with... the other items, the eggs / cherry bomb probably does not have any usable latents...


sorry to hear of your plight. good luck.

[Mr. Lee]

Rbadgett - That's simply horrible. Why can't some people just respect another person's property? We put time, sweat, and effort into making as much money as we can to live comfortably and now we have to worry about others trying to take that away from you. Not very fair.

sgttom - Yes I have the mortar(?) remnants in my hand. I will see if the PD will dust it for prints when I go in to file a report tomorrow.

Creeker - Are you suggesting me to get a paintball gun to shoot at potential vandals in the future? That actually sounds like a pretty good idea. I know nothing about them, but a good idea nonetheless!

[Creeker]

Creeker - Are you suggesting me to get a paintball gun to shoot at potential vandals in the future? That actually sounds like a pretty good idea. I know nothing about them, but a good idea nonetheless!

I was merely advancing an idea of how to mark the suspect vehicle.

However, if the suspects happened to become marked in some way, I understand that paintballs leave a distinctive welt beneath clothing.

The downside of Paintball guns, as I understand them, is that they can't be left fully loaded for any length of time, since the air canisters leak down and there is a liklihood that the paintballs will stick together and not feed properly. I have no personal experience with paintball.

[Rbadgett]

I was merely advancing an idea of how to mark the suspect vehicle.

However, if the suspects happened to become marked in some way, I understand that paintballs leave a distinctive welt beneath clothing.

The downside of Paintball guns, as I understand them, is that they can't be left fully loaded for any length of time, since the air canisters leak down and there is a liklihood that the paintballs will stick together and not feed properly. I have no personal experience with paintball.

This is true. My advice would be to do the afore mentioned but have a reliable paintball marker with CO2 connected (CO2 will not always leak dry unless there's a bad seal, even then it takes a good 2 weeks to empty out) and freeze a bag of paintballs (they wont stick if they're frozen.). Once the balls are frozen, take them out of the freezer, load them into your hopper, and simply wait. Now, frozen paintballs are not legal in LEAGUE Play, because of the pain, and immobilization that occurs upon being struck. I've met some people who have been hit with frozen paintballs. Not only did they continue to explain the extreme pain they went through, but they also noted complete immobilization immediately after impact. I'm not sure if frozen paintballs are illegal, but they do the job. I dont own a paintball marker but I do own several soft air pistols and rifles. My SIG P226 Soft Air will stun someone with a good shot to the chest, or even leg. Even at 300FPS a small plastic projectile can be brutal.

Disclaimer: This is not a recommendation, I do not use, or endorse the use of frozen paintballs or markers.

[Straight Up]

Are you suggesting me to get a paintball gun to shoot at potential vandals in the future? That actually sounds like a pretty good idea. I know nothing about them, but a good idea nonetheless!

Question??

After shooting minors with a paint ball gun and leaving marks or God forbid, taking out an eye, what legalities could Mr. Lee find himself facing??

Putting in ADT and installing security cameras pretty much stooped all the nonsense to my house.

[Mr. Lee]

Question??

After shooting minors with a paint ball gun and leaving marks or God forbid, taking out an eye, what legalities could Mr. Lee find himself facing??

Putting in ADT and installing security cameras pretty much stooped all the nonsense to my house.

The thing is, I have both. I have a security system and security cameras. The gate to my house was closed and they simply hopped over it. I have a feeling it might be some neighbors down the street as they opposed the building of my house at our proposal.

A paintball gun actually sounds like a pretty cool idea. I've gone once with my buddies and although I left with a few battle scars, it was fun. It might be a good investment.

[Creeker]

Question??

After shooting minors with a paint ball gun and leaving marks or God forbid, taking out an eye, what legalities could Mr. Lee find himself facing??
...

First, thanks for hearkening back to "The "Christmas Story"... my favorite BTW.

Remembering that all crimes must be committed with criminal intent, I wouldn't think Mr. Lee would have any problem in simply attempting to mark the assailants of his property for identification. If so, then Banks should also be prosecuted when dye bombs go off, as well as convenience stores, etc. who mark various items with indelible or uv sensitive powders or inks that won't come off. While I could believe that some overanxious prosecutor up for re-election might try to charge him, I would hope that the average Cop in the Street would see the analogy that I do.

Ever put some of that stuff on your Sgt'.s Telephone, then ignored the results for a few days? Good times can be had by many. I always liked the staining powder that was activated when wet. He would come in the next day, not knowing he had crap around his ear.

That's another idea. If you are sure they are hopping your fence, get some of that stuff...or powder your paintballs with it... I think I have a source. I don't know how long it would last in weather, and after the first rain you would have a stain problem that was self-created.

[chiefhuntr]

Just A Thought

You said you have a good relationship with the local schools. Try offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of the little scum-bags. But the down side is that others who do not know about it might get new ideas. either way, make the report with the police. Then call the agency that provides the security and give them an ear full!!!

Good Luck

[Kabal]

I think someone already mentioned the possible problems for you, Mr Lee, if you use paintball guns on a trespasser/vandal. I don't think that sounds like a good idea. I don't think it would look favorably on you to be essentially be using force to defend property. As described in other replies, those things leave welts and cause injury. In competition play they have to wear protective masks. Imagine the serious harm that could be done for a face shot. You could find yourself on the wrong end of a felonious assault case. Not to mention a civil suit.

I'm not trying to downplay how I am sure it makes you feel when someone craps on your stuff. I think shooting paintballs at them might fall under the same view as if you ran out and started throwing punches at them for egging your house.

Between the gate, cameras, gated community; sounds like you have a really nice house... Need a housesitter?

Good luck with the video though if it happens again. I have gotten more than a few convictions that started with no more than unidentified video, then got an ID followed by a confession.

Just hope that it was a random act and they won't visit you again.

[Creeker]

I am now officially interested in why a Bank can get away with marking someone with an exploding dye pack and a victim cannot mark a suspect vehicle.

[Straight Up]

I am now officially interested in why a Bank can get away with marking someone with an exploding dye pack and a victim cannot mark a suspect vehicle.

Bank

[retired]

I am now officially interested in why a Bank can get away with marking someone with an exploding dye pack and a victim cannot mark a suspect vehicle.

Bank-usually an armed felony, both federal and state.

Egging a house-non-violent misdeameanor.