Nine juveniles cited for destroying Sarpy County fences

2022-05-29 10:29:09 By : Ms. Adela liu

On-line challenge results in trail of vandalism

On-line challenge results in trail of vandalism

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On-line challenge results in trail of vandalism

The Sarpy County Sheriff's office said tips from the public led investigators to nine juveniles, cited for deliberately damaging vinyl fencing early Tuesday morning.

Security video showed a group of vandals line up and nearly destroy an entire fence line outside a West Omaha home.

It's a popular social media challenge, but they say this is no joke.

Three cars pulled up outside a home off 159th and Cherrywood. It's 2:15 a.m. Tuesday.

A group of people got out, lined up and ran through the fence, breaking it apart into multiple pieces.

They group ran back to their cars and take off.

"I just thought maybe it was some wind damage but when we saw for the first time I was just blown away knowing full well it was absolutely vandalism,” said Robert McWilliams.

McWilliams owns the home and rents it out to a family.

He said it'll cost about $3,500 to fix the fence.

"Because those particular panels are no longer available we'll have to replace everything and of course, with the supply chain shortage it might be a while before we get it up,” McWilliams said.

Sarpy County Sheriff Jeff Davis said Thursday information from the public led to citations to nine juveniles for criminal mischief.

"I am grateful for the cooperation we had from the community, our friends from local media outlets, and the diligent work of our Road Patrol and Investigations units," said Davis.

All of the fences were near the Chalco Hills Recreation Area.

"There's about eight of them and they line up and charge through the fence. They call it the Kool-Aid Man challenge," said Lt. James Wrigley, with the Sarpy County Sheriff's Office.

"Be aware of the group mentality, a lot of times they're hanging out in these groups and one of them gets the idea, or sees the challenge on their phone and social media and says, ‘Hey, I have a good idea,’ which is not a good idea. It’s really hard in that group to stand up and say, ‘let’s not do that,’ but that’s really what we need," Wrigley said.

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