Ledger-Dispatch

By Bethany A. Monk (bmonk@ledger-dispatch.com) = - Raheem Hosseini=20

Manuel Andrade, an Arc of Amador & = Calaveras=20 client, sweeps pieces of broken glass Wednesday morning near the = two vans=20 that were vandalized in a county-wide vandalism spree this week. = The local=20 branch of the Arc, part of an international organization that = provides=20 support and services to people with developmental disabilities, is = located=20 on Academy Drive in Sutter Creek.

Photo by: Bethany A. = Monk

Police believe the shootings of car = windows in=20 Jackson occurred some time between 12 and 3 a.m. Wednesday = morning.

Photo by: Bill=20 Lavallie
UPDATED

A bizarre = vandalism=20 spree that left a trail of broken glass throughout the county ended with = the=20 arrests of three young males Thursday.

The three are also = suspected of a=20 rash of additional shootings that occurred late Wednesday night and = early=20 Thursday morning, which left 12 to 14 vehicles in the Lake Camanche area = with=20 shattered windows. All totaled, more than 40 vehicles were reported = vandalized=20 over a two-day period, with a majority involving damaged vehicle=20 windows.

According to Amador County Undersheriff Jim Wegner, the = two=20 young men who claimed responsibility for the path of destruction that=20 encompassed Jackson, Martell and Sutter Creek and stretched as far as = Plymouth=20 and Ione, were identified as persons of interest after a traffic stop by = Jackson=20 police and Amador sheriff's units. A release from the sheriff's office=20 identified them as Cody Allen Gribble, 20, and Jaimeson Russell Kelly, = 18, both=20 of Sutter Creek. A third male, a 17-year-old whose name was not released = because=20 of his age, was also arrested in connection with the crimes. As of = Thursday=20 afternoon, he was in custody of the Amador County Probation Department. = Gribble=20 and Kelley were being held at the Amador County Jail on charges of = vandalism and=20 conspiracy to commit a crime. Gribble was additionally charged with = violating=20 parole.

Before they were caught, the three suspects had broken = out or=20 damaged more than three dozen car windows and storefronts. Initial=20 investigations suggested the vandals did the damage using pellet guns or = air=20 rifles. Each agency was covering the damage done to its own backyard, = according=20 to Jackson police Sgt. Todd Breedlove. The vandalism began some time = Tuesday=20 night or early Wednesday morning.

In Jackson, car windows in the=20 neighborhoods of Agate Place, Placer Drive and Broadway were hit, = Breedlove said=20 in a phone interview Wednesday.

"At about 2:45 this morning, our = officer=20 responded to the Agate Place area for a report of somebody's car windows = being=20 shot out," Breedlove said. "When the officer arrived in the area, he = found=20 several vehicles in the in the area with their windows shot out, = possibly with a=20 BB gun."

When asked what the penalty for inflicting this sort of = damage=20 might be, Breedlove said it depends on the value of the damage. "Most = likely=20 it's going to be a felony."

None of the downtown area businesses = in=20 Jackson were affected by the glass breaking spree, according to City = Manager=20 Mike Daly.

The same was not true in Sutter Creek, where 10 = vehicles and=20 one business were targeted, according to Police Chief Rob Duke. Duke did = not=20 release the business' name. The police department obtained video images = of the=20 vehicle believed to belong to the suspects, Duke said.

The police = department is also investigating an unrelated, yet slightly similar = incident=20 that occurred Nov. 16. A suspect had smashed the windows of four Main = Street=20 businesses, allegedly leaving behind traces of his blood in the sink of = The=20 Annex bar's bathroom. No arrests have been made in the case.

Mark = Borchin, owner of The Glass Doctor in Jackson, said Wednesday morning = his glass=20 repair shop had been inundated with calls from victims of the = glass-breaking=20 spree. "The phone started ringing this morning right off the hook," he = said. By=20 the time 15 were tallied, "that's when my staff called me and said, 'We = need=20 some help.'"

As of Thursday morning, the number of calls was up = to 18.=20 Borchin said the majority of those were orders to repair shot out car = windows,=20 while some concerned cracked storefront windows. The calls were coming = in from=20 Ione, Plymouth, Sutter Creek and Jackson - reportedly the hardest hit in = the=20 spree.

With modern car windows, what's called tempered glass = breaks and=20 falls out when cracked, a safety feature meant to prevent jagged, = dangerous=20 holes. That safety feature also meant there were a lot of missing car = windows=20 Wednesday morning around Amador County. "We're trying to respond as fast = as we=20 can," Borchin said.

Two vans belonging to the Arc of Amador & = Calaveras in Sutter Creek were also vandalized.

"It looked like = someone=20 hit (the vans' windows) with a baseball bat," said Mike Rolf, the Arc's = director=20 of services. This is the first time, to his knowledge, that the Arc has = been a=20 victim of this type of vandalism.

"Everybody's feeling the = economic=20 crunch," Rolf continued. "And now, so many people in the county have to = spend=20 their hard-earned money on replacing their broken car = windows."

Mike=20 Sweeney, executive director of the Arc, called the situation=20 "unfortunate."

"We'll have to pay $250 for each window," he said. = "That's=20 $500 that could be put toward a new van."

Sweeney said the Arc is = in the=20 process of purchasing two new vans; the vans affected in the incident = are used=20 to transport clients to various activities. "It's very disappointing = that=20 someone in the community would do that," Sweeney said.

The two = vans were=20 taken to a local auto body shop early Wednesday and were scheduled to be = back in=20 use by this morning. "That was good news," he said.

There wasn't = much=20 good news for Renee Morrison. Morrison was the 16th caller to The Glass = Doctor=20 Wednesday. The single mother, who lives in Martell, discovered around 8 = a.m.=20 that the back window to her Ford Windstar van had been shattered, along = with the=20 pierced back window of a Ford vehicle in the same parking = lot.

"It's=20 horrible," Morrison said of the widespread vandalism. "And right before=20 Christmas? Oh my God."

Fixing the window will cost Morrison $480, = she=20 said. Neither she nor her watchdog heard anything the night before. = Studying the=20 small hole that pierced the back window of her neighbor's vehicle, the = deputy=20 who interviewed Morrison surmised that the damage was done with some = sort of=20 pellet gun or air rifle. Morrison noted curiously that other cars in the = lot,=20 including a window-strewn station wagon parked along the street, escaped = undamaged.

"It's pretty sad and I hope they get caught," Morrison = lamented. "It's mean, it's really mean."

Scott Thomas Anderson = contributed to this report.

Bethany A. = Monk