Teenagers arrested for vandalizing home several times
NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (WISH) – A family can sleep easier tonight knowing the vandals targeting their home have been caught.
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office arrested 18-year-old Timothy Austin Moore and another 16-year-old boy. Both face felony charges for burglary and criminal mischief.
The home in the 16300 block of Gray Road is under construction and the owners say the damage pushed the finish date back at least one month.
But with this arrest the fear of wondering if vandals will strike again has stopped.
“It was just exhausting mentally to be dealing with this,” said homeowner Jeff Williams.
Building a home is stressful enough but throw in some vandalism on three separate occasions and you can understand why Williams was at his wit’s end.
“You just wonder if somebody has it out for you or what you’ve done to upset somebody to make them want to do this,” he said.
The damage included destroying cabinets and dressers, drawing obscenities like a swastika on walls and ceilings and mixing water and grout so that it would stick to the floor and expensive marble tile.
“It’s definitely north of $50,000,” he said of the damage estimate.
But Williams got some good news for a change when he learned arrests were made. He also had a message for the suspects.
“I hope that they learn from this and move on and be productive adults you know. Learn your lesson at a young age and if you’re bored how about thinking about volunteering next time,” he said.
It’s an idea that can build a good foundation, one not worth destroying.
“Our family is glad to have this behind us and just be able to move on with the construction of our home and our future,” said Williams.
He also wanted to extend his gratitude to the community for sharing their story and providing tips to investigators which led to an arrest.
“Just to know that the community had our back in this matter and wanted it to get solved just as much as we did was definitely encouraging to our family we could feel that,” he said.