WESTFIELD – A 17-year-old boy who allegedly led two juvenile boys on a Halloween vandalism spree has been charged and arraigned for vandalism after tires on at least five vehicles were slashed.
The crimes were not all reported immediately and were thus investigated by two different officers.
Det. Brian Freeman reports that victims of vandalism on Hampden and Mechanic streets reported the crimes the day after Halloween and, when he investigated them, he found they were related to similar crimes that Officer Michael Csekovsky had investigated the night before.
Freeman was able to reconstruct the actions of the boys and ultimately charged the older boy with three counts of vandalism for the damage to the vehicles on Hampden and Mechanic streets.
Freeman said that his investigation showed a progression of vandalism as the suspect, Steven Raskauskas, 17, of 92 Meadow St., and two 14-year-old companions walked in the city while trick or treating on Halloween.
Freeman said that he found that the trio got together on Court Street and walked toward the Meadow Street area.
He said that, when the boys were on Hampden Street, Raskauskas slashed three tires on two parked cars.
Freeman said the boys next paused on Chapel Street where, Freeman reports, Raskauskas slashed another tire on a parked car but it is not clear if Raskauskas slashed a second tire or if he pressured one of the younger boys into vandalizing one of them.
“Two tires got slashed” Freeman said. “He (Raskauskas) might have done one, he might have done two. It was his knife.”
On Mechanic Street, two tires on a parked vehicle were apparently slashed by one of the younger boys, prompted by Raskauskas who provided the knife.
The last car the boys vandalized was on Miller Street and that one proved to be their undoing.
On Miller Street, where two tires were slashed, the victim discovered the crime immediately and called police.
Csekovsky responded and reports that he heard voices on the dike behind the residence. When he investigated, he observed three youths but when he instructed them to stop, two fled.
The 14-year-old suspect who obeyed the officer’s command surrendered a knife and was transported to the station where, after speaking privately with his mother, he agreed to tell the truth.
The boy identified his companions and told Csekovsky that Raskauskas and the other juvenile boy had stabbed tires of a car on Chapel Street. He admitted that he had vandalized the vehicle on Miller Street at the urging of his friends.
Csekovsky charged Raskauskas with two counts of malicious damage to a motor vehicle.
The juvenile boy Csekovsky spoke with told him that he slashed the tires because his friends said they would respect him for it but Freeman said that he learned the other juvenile boy, at least, had a more elemental motivation – fear.
Freeman said that the boy told him that Raskauskas had handed him the knife and told him to slash the tires of the car on Mechanic Street saying he would stop beating him up if he slashed the tires. Freeman quotes the younger boy as saying “I’ve been beaten by this guy (Raskauskas) 20 times, I didn’t want to get beaten again.”
Raskauskas was arraigned on Freeman’s charges on Dec. 4 after having been arraigned Oct. 31 on the two charges brought by Csekovsky. In both cases, he was released on his personal recognizance and ordered to return to court for a hearing on Feb. 15.
In October, Raskauskas was also arraigned on an unrelated charge of assault with a dangerous weapon. Officer Nathan Osowski alleges in the complaint he filed that Raskauskas menaced a male party with a knife while attempting to instigate a fight. He was ordered to return to court Feb. 15 for a pre-trial hearing on that case as well.
Raskauskas is represented by Elizabeth M. LaFrance of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, a state program that provides legal assistance for indigent defendants.
LaFrance did not immediately return a call asking for comment on the case but has written to Police Chief John Camerota to inform him that her client dos not wish to speak with police.
Raskauskas is charged under Chapter 266, sections 28 and 126a.
If convicted of the malicious damage charge in district court, Raskauskas could be sentenced to as much as two and a half years in jail and/or a fine of no more than $15,000. The vandalism charges could result and a two-year sentence and a fine of as much as a $1,500.
