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06-13-2006, 06:53 AM
ALL-TERRAIN VANDALS
$40K in damage; company offers reward
Posted by the Ocean County Observer on 06/10/06 BY DON BENNETT STAFF WRITER
TOMS RIVER — Vandals used all-terrain vehicles Thursday night to get into the Fisher Brothers Sand and Gravel plant off Northern Boulevard, where they did $40,000 worth of damage, including using one earth-moving machine to damage and bury another.
The company is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the vandals, according to Robert Bethanis, who manages the business.
He said despite posting "no trespassing" signs, off-road vehicle operators are on the remote property in Pinewald "almost daily."
"It's not so bad if they didn't damage stuff. Sure, they cost you money by tearing up the roads," he said.
Thursday night's episode is the worst instance of vandalism at the sand plant, he said.
"There were ATV tracks all over," he said.
Police followed them as part of their investigation.
Bethanis said the vandals got one big machine running, used it to partially crush a truck, and then damage and bury a smaller front-end loader.
It happened between 5 p.m. Thursday, when the last worker left the plant, and 5:30 a.m. Friday, when the first worker arrived there.
Bethanis said the owners of the adjoining Johnson property have posted a security guard in an attempt to keep the off-road vehicles off that tract.
Homeowners are having problems with them, too, he said.
"It's constantly a problem, mostly during off hours," he explained.
Berkeley police officers, using ATVs of their own, have caught and prosecuted some of the trespassers, but the problems continue, he said.
Bethanis thinks tougher local laws and enforcement will help businesses like Fisher Brothers.
http://www.ocobserver.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060610/NEWS/606100310&SearchID=73247367018596
$40K in damage; company offers reward
Posted by the Ocean County Observer on 06/10/06 BY DON BENNETT STAFF WRITER
TOMS RIVER — Vandals used all-terrain vehicles Thursday night to get into the Fisher Brothers Sand and Gravel plant off Northern Boulevard, where they did $40,000 worth of damage, including using one earth-moving machine to damage and bury another.
The company is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the vandals, according to Robert Bethanis, who manages the business.
He said despite posting "no trespassing" signs, off-road vehicle operators are on the remote property in Pinewald "almost daily."
"It's not so bad if they didn't damage stuff. Sure, they cost you money by tearing up the roads," he said.
Thursday night's episode is the worst instance of vandalism at the sand plant, he said.
"There were ATV tracks all over," he said.
Police followed them as part of their investigation.
Bethanis said the vandals got one big machine running, used it to partially crush a truck, and then damage and bury a smaller front-end loader.
It happened between 5 p.m. Thursday, when the last worker left the plant, and 5:30 a.m. Friday, when the first worker arrived there.
Bethanis said the owners of the adjoining Johnson property have posted a security guard in an attempt to keep the off-road vehicles off that tract.
Homeowners are having problems with them, too, he said.
"It's constantly a problem, mostly during off hours," he explained.
Berkeley police officers, using ATVs of their own, have caught and prosecuted some of the trespassers, but the problems continue, he said.
Bethanis thinks tougher local laws and enforcement will help businesses like Fisher Brothers.
http://www.ocobserver.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060610/NEWS/606100310&SearchID=73247367018596