Vandals hit Kalispell cars
<p>This pickup was one of several vehicles damaged by vandals with a BB gun Sunday morning on Third Street East. More than 70 incidents were reported to Kalispell Police from all over the city.</p>
Kalispell residents were treated to an unfortunate surprise when they woke up Sunday morning.
Between the hours of 4:30 and 7 a.m., unknown suspects drove through residential areas shooting out the windows of cars, and in one case, a house window, with a pellet gun.
The Kalispell Police Department estimates between 70 and 80 windows were shot out or damaged. Damages were in the thousands of dollars.
Sgt. Chad Zimmerman said the hard facts were minimal on the suspects at this point.
“No one saw the car up close,” he said. “All we know is that it had a loud exhaust. It was all over town.”
The incidents seem to have been spread out over the city. Cars on Third Avenue East, Third Street West, First Avenue EN and Fourth Street West were just a few of the reporting locations.
Zimmerman confirmed the suspects were using a BB gun and not a firearm of higher caliber.
One of the first calls reporting suspicious behavior came in at 5:40 a.m. from an east-side resident claiming to see a white car with loud exhaust firing BBs at car windows.
In the police log, several reporting parties said the car was full of young people. These reports are as of yet unsubstantiated.
Samuel Richards, an east-side Kalispell resident, was one of those hit by the vandals. He had returned from the movies at 1:30 a.m., and when he woke up for church around 11 a.m., his 1997 Mercury Sable had one window partially broken and another totally shattered.
“It doesn’t exceed $1,000, otherwise my insurance would pay for it,” he said.
Richards said a similar incident happened to a different vehicle of his in 2005.
Less than 30 feet away from Richards’ vehicle, another car window was on the verge of collapse.
So many incidents have been reported, it will take several days for Kalispell Police to respond to each one.
Zimmerman said that while he has obviously seen crime sprees before, the magnitude of this one, done in such a short period of time, was surprising.
Kalispell Police said that any information leading to an arrest in this case would qualify for a Crime Stoppers reward. Dispatch for KPD is 758-7780.
Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.