WESTFIELD – At least seven vandalism incidents involving broken windows which may involve a BB or pellet gun were reported over the weekend and, while the majority of the crimes occurred on the north side of the city, other neighborhoods in the city were not spared.
In four of the incidents, vehicles were targeted but two residences were struck on Montgomery Road and one residential window was broken on Tannery Road.
Rear windows of parked vehicles were shattered on Joseph Avenue, North Road, Pochassic Road and Wild Flower Circle.
Although projectiles were not recovered in all cases, police suspect that all the incidents are the result of misuse of a BB or pellet gun and more than one detective has suggested that the offender or offenders have fired at the windows from a vehicle.
Capt. Michael McCabe said that there is little citizens can do to protect themselves asking rhetorically, “How can you protect yourself from jackasses?”
He did say that citizens should report any such incidents promptly so that police may respond in a timely manner and, as always, residents should report to police any suspicious activity or persons seen in their neighborhoods.
Westfield is not alone in encountering this type of crime.
Windows of at least 30 vehicles parked on Springfield streets were vandalized by a pellet gun last week.
In Springfield, the vandalism seems to have occurred on weeknights and in those incidents side windows of vehicles were reported to have been broken.
In Westfield, residents have reported that rear windows of vehicles have been shattered.
