{"id":5666,"date":"2014-05-01T16:32:24","date_gmt":"2014-05-01T20:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=5666"},"modified":"2014-05-02T15:46:40","modified_gmt":"2014-05-02T19:46:40","slug":"alleged-longtime-vandal-arrested-in-new-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=5666","title":{"rendered":"Alleged longtime vandal arrested in New Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

Police say juvenile defaced buildings with \u201cVANE\u201d and \u201cMOVE\u201d tags<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n
\n

By Kathleen Brady Shea<\/strong>,\u00a0Managing Editor, The Times<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"IMG_0295\"<\/a>A vandal who has systematically defaced property in New Garden Township since the summer of 2012 has been arrested, police said on Thursday, May 1.<\/p>\n

In a news release, police said the graffiti tags \u201cVANE\u201d or \u201cMOVE\u201d have been prominently displayed on community buildings, schools, private residences, sheds, sewer treatment facilities, convenience stores, shopping centers and abandoned buildings, primarily throughout southeastern New Garden Township and surrounding jurisdictions. \u00a0Several areas have been victimized more than once after removal of the graffiti.<\/span><\/p>\n

Within the last several weeks, police said they developed a juvenile suspect and took steps to have the intelligence information confirmed.\u00a0 Those investigative efforts resulted in the execution of a search warrant for a residence in the \u00a0Southampton Parish in Somerset Lake in Landenberg on April 15.<\/p>\n

Police said the search revealed material evidence related to the acts of graffiti.\u00a0 The suspect, who is not being identified because he is a juvenile, is presently cooperating with law enforcement, police said.\u00a0 Police said that \u201cVANE\u201d stands for \u201cvictims are never enemies,\u201d and that the graffiti was not gang-related.<\/p>\n

The New Garden Township Police Department requests that if you experienced graffiti vandalism involving the tag \u201cVANE or \u201cMOVE,\u201d \u00a0contact Sgt. Keith Cowdright at 610-268-2907, ext. 102. \u00a0A follow-up press release will be issued once investigators have had an opportunity to compile all incidents and damages, police said, adding that they anticipate numerous criminal charges being filed against the juvenile.<\/p>\n

Finally, the police department recognizes that some residents\u2019 frustration \u2013 especially if they were victimized more than once \u2013 could lead to failing to report the incidents. Police are urging citizens to take the time to perform the following steps if they are victimized:<\/p>\n

Immediately contact the police \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>investigators will create a written and visual report of damages, a photographic record (evidence) of damages, and assess whether or not it is gang-related.<\/p>\n

Remove the graffiti quickly \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>removal vigilance is the best step in preventing a reoccurrence.<\/p>\n

Keep a record of repairs\u00a0<\/strong>– if a suspect is later identified, these records will be used for restitution orders.<\/p>\n

Report suspicious activity<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 It only take moments to create graffiti vandalism. If you see something suspicious or out-of-the-ordinary, report it to the police immediately.<\/p>\n

New Garden Township Police Chief Gerald R. Simpson said that input from the public could help to solve such crimes. \u201cThis case is a good example of that,\u201d he said, explaining that it\u2019s unlikely that police will catch someone in the act. However, bits of information are extremely helpful, and when combined, often lead to arrests. He said he also appreciated the investigative work done by the Kennett Square Police Department, which also helped facilitate the arrest.<\/p>\n

For additional information and tips, visit the New Garden Township Police Department at its website,\u00a0www.ngpd.org<\/a>\u00a0or on its Facebook page.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Police say juvenile defaced buildings with \u201cVANE\u201d and \u201cMOVE\u201d tags By Kathleen Brady Shea,\u00a0Managing Editor, The Times A vandal who has systematically defaced property in New Garden Township since the summer of 2012 has been arrested, police said on Thursday, May 1. In a news release, police said the graffiti tags \u201cVANE\u201d or \u201cMOVE\u201d have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3610,909,1020,3611],"class_list":["post-5666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-graffiti","tag-new-garden-township","tag-new-garden-township-police-chief-gerald-r-simpson","tag-sgt-keith-cowdright"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5666\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}