vikingscaper
06-02-2004, 09:09 PM
Pint-size vandals do big damage
BY DAVID HAWLEY
Pioneer Press
At some point in childhood, most kids dream of operating a bulldozer, a backhoe or some other giant piece of dirt-digging construction equipment. Most fulfill their fantasy with a Tonka toy.
But for two 10-year-old Minneapolis boys, playing with big machines became a reality last weekend — and the result was destruction and a crime.
Minneapolis police said the two boys obtained keys to a big Caterpillar machine at a housing construction site in North Minneapolis and caused up to $500,000 in damage before they were caught late Sunday afternoon.
The mayhem included a construction trailer that was flattened to kindling, a 50-ton crane that was heavily damaged and a second Caterpillar machine that was flipped over and mangled. No one was injured.
Exactly when the joy ride began and how long it lasted is still being investigated, but the rampage was discovered late Sunday afternoon after a telephone pole was chopped in two, knocking out power to a nearby building that housed a radio station.
Minneapolis police spokesman Ron Reier said the two boys could have started their spree as early as Friday evening, after crews went home for the holiday weekend.
The city's communications director, Gail Plewacki, said the keys to the machines were put inside the trailer on the site before the crews left, and it is still unclear how the boys got them. The trailer had become a pile of rubble by the time investigators arrived, making it difficult to determine if a forced entry had occurred earlier.
"I'm amazed that damage of that level could be done by 10-year-old kids," said R.C. Williams, operations manager at KMOJ-FM, a radio station housed in a city-owned building at 555 Girard Terrace. The building, which also houses a community center, is across the street from the site of a seven-acre section of a housing development project called Heritage Park that is scheduled to be completed in December 2005.
Williams said station employees called him after power to the building was knocked out at 4 p.m. Sunday. When he arrived at the station, Williams said he was met by Joe Cason, an employee of the Minneapolis Public Housing Agency, which owns the building and the construction site.
"We were just outside the building when two kids walked out and asked if the community center was open," Williams said. "As it turned out, they had returned to the scene of the crime."
A few minutes later, Williams said one of his station employees caught the boys trying to break into his van. One of the boys ran away, but the employee grabbed the other one and escorted him across the street to police officers who were surveying the damage at the construction site.
The boy quickly admitted to causing the destruction and identified the other youth. Both were being held Tuesday in the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center and are expected to be charged with criminal damage to property.
"It's sad to think about these kids," Williams said. "I don't think they realize the magnitude of what they've done. But they will."
Williams said KMOJ was off the air from 4 p.m. Sunday until 8:30 a.m. Monday.
"Any time you're off the air that long, you lose revenue and listenership," he said. "We probably won't know the full extent of the loss until later."
Terry Randolph, a spokesman for the developer, McCormack Baron Salazar, said two pre-construction operations have been under way at the site since last fall. One, subcontracted by the developer to Veit & Co. of Rogers, has been working on site preparation. The other is a city operation involving streets and utilities.
The city crews from the Department of Public Works were using leased equipment that is insured, said Sara Dietrich, a city spokeswoman. She said the amount of damage to that equipment is still being assessed.
Bart Anderson, vice president of Veit & Co., said the damage to his company's equipment will amount to "many, many thousands of dollars."
But Randolph said the construction schedule for the project probably won't be severely affected by the incident.
"It's still a big piece of ground that's being prepped, so from what we know now, we can't foresee any major delay," he said.
Because they are 10, the two boys can be charged with felonies in juvenile court, a spokesman for the Hennepin County attorney said. Under state law, a child younger than 10 is not subject to criminal prosecution and is generally handled through child-protection services, he added.
In some cases, children are subjected to simultaneous prosecution while also receiving child-protection services, depending on their family situation. But no information has been released about the boys' home environment.
"They did the damage (and) you got to put the blame on them," said city worker Arnold Kleinschmidt, who was cleaning up at the construction site Tuesday.
"You can't hold their hands and say, 'Well, they didn't know any better' and all that," Kleinschmidt said. "I don't buy that."
Link (http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/8813515.htm)
BY DAVID HAWLEY
Pioneer Press
At some point in childhood, most kids dream of operating a bulldozer, a backhoe or some other giant piece of dirt-digging construction equipment. Most fulfill their fantasy with a Tonka toy.
But for two 10-year-old Minneapolis boys, playing with big machines became a reality last weekend — and the result was destruction and a crime.
Minneapolis police said the two boys obtained keys to a big Caterpillar machine at a housing construction site in North Minneapolis and caused up to $500,000 in damage before they were caught late Sunday afternoon.
The mayhem included a construction trailer that was flattened to kindling, a 50-ton crane that was heavily damaged and a second Caterpillar machine that was flipped over and mangled. No one was injured.
Exactly when the joy ride began and how long it lasted is still being investigated, but the rampage was discovered late Sunday afternoon after a telephone pole was chopped in two, knocking out power to a nearby building that housed a radio station.
Minneapolis police spokesman Ron Reier said the two boys could have started their spree as early as Friday evening, after crews went home for the holiday weekend.
The city's communications director, Gail Plewacki, said the keys to the machines were put inside the trailer on the site before the crews left, and it is still unclear how the boys got them. The trailer had become a pile of rubble by the time investigators arrived, making it difficult to determine if a forced entry had occurred earlier.
"I'm amazed that damage of that level could be done by 10-year-old kids," said R.C. Williams, operations manager at KMOJ-FM, a radio station housed in a city-owned building at 555 Girard Terrace. The building, which also houses a community center, is across the street from the site of a seven-acre section of a housing development project called Heritage Park that is scheduled to be completed in December 2005.
Williams said station employees called him after power to the building was knocked out at 4 p.m. Sunday. When he arrived at the station, Williams said he was met by Joe Cason, an employee of the Minneapolis Public Housing Agency, which owns the building and the construction site.
"We were just outside the building when two kids walked out and asked if the community center was open," Williams said. "As it turned out, they had returned to the scene of the crime."
A few minutes later, Williams said one of his station employees caught the boys trying to break into his van. One of the boys ran away, but the employee grabbed the other one and escorted him across the street to police officers who were surveying the damage at the construction site.
The boy quickly admitted to causing the destruction and identified the other youth. Both were being held Tuesday in the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center and are expected to be charged with criminal damage to property.
"It's sad to think about these kids," Williams said. "I don't think they realize the magnitude of what they've done. But they will."
Williams said KMOJ was off the air from 4 p.m. Sunday until 8:30 a.m. Monday.
"Any time you're off the air that long, you lose revenue and listenership," he said. "We probably won't know the full extent of the loss until later."
Terry Randolph, a spokesman for the developer, McCormack Baron Salazar, said two pre-construction operations have been under way at the site since last fall. One, subcontracted by the developer to Veit & Co. of Rogers, has been working on site preparation. The other is a city operation involving streets and utilities.
The city crews from the Department of Public Works were using leased equipment that is insured, said Sara Dietrich, a city spokeswoman. She said the amount of damage to that equipment is still being assessed.
Bart Anderson, vice president of Veit & Co., said the damage to his company's equipment will amount to "many, many thousands of dollars."
But Randolph said the construction schedule for the project probably won't be severely affected by the incident.
"It's still a big piece of ground that's being prepped, so from what we know now, we can't foresee any major delay," he said.
Because they are 10, the two boys can be charged with felonies in juvenile court, a spokesman for the Hennepin County attorney said. Under state law, a child younger than 10 is not subject to criminal prosecution and is generally handled through child-protection services, he added.
In some cases, children are subjected to simultaneous prosecution while also receiving child-protection services, depending on their family situation. But no information has been released about the boys' home environment.
"They did the damage (and) you got to put the blame on them," said city worker Arnold Kleinschmidt, who was cleaning up at the construction site Tuesday.
"You can't hold their hands and say, 'Well, they didn't know any better' and all that," Kleinschmidt said. "I don't buy that."
Link (http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/8813515.htm)