Vandal of Pequea ball field arrested, municipality demands restitution | Community News

When: Pequea Township Supervisors Meeting, May 15.

What happened: Pequea Township Police Chief John Michener announced at the meeting that an individual who vandalized township property has been arrested and restitution is being sought.

Background: On April 4, city police began an investigation into an act of vandalism at the Silver Mine Park baseball field, where a vehicle entered the field and intentionally caused significant damage to the outfield turf and infield. ground. Michener said a “very small piece of evidence” was left behind and that evidence was a piece of the vehicle that caused the damage. Police were able to determine the make, model and date range of the vehicle based on a part number of that part of the vehicle.

More: Michener said the investigation led to an unnamed 18-year-old man from Conestoga, who confessed to causing the damage to the field as well as another field in Conestoga Township the same night. This individual was charged by Pequea police with criminal mischief.

Quotable: “It was right at the start of the baseball season and the field was completely unusable. It was devastating for the kids, the families and all those little guys that play baseball,” Michener said.

The community bounces back: Michener said the municipality and a group of volunteers from various organizations came forward and donated materials, equipment and labor to get the field in good enough condition to play on. He said the township had to pay for some materials for the infield.

Restitution requested: Michener said restitution in the amount of $2,722 was being sought from the person accused of the crime to cover the cost of materials the municipality had to pay for.

Annual police report: Michener presented a brief year-end report, saying the department responded to 5,022 calls in 2023, a 21% increase from 2022. He added the township was below average in terms of crime rate and above average in terms of clearance rate, citing positive results in crime prevention. community efforts.