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Violence, vandalism increase in recent weeks
By Evan N. Brengel
Copy Editor
There must have been something in the air the weekend of March 23. With three separate cases of major vandalism and one case of physical assault, students may be more reluctant to head into town for the night.
Two unofficial Greek life groups, the Roxbury and the Deephers, had their homes and personal property vandalized. According to Ronnie Ruffino, a sophomore accounting major and resident at the Roxbury, on Friday night a series of car windows were smashed at the Deepher house. The following night, more than 20 cars had their tires slashed at the Roxbury and neighboring houses on College Street, Ruffino said.
Brockport Police Sergeant Mark Philippy confirmed that “a number of vehicles at residences on Holley Street and College Street had tires punctured in the early morning hours” and “the investigations are continuing.”
The Roxbury is at 172 Main St. and the Deepher house is at 51 Erie St. Ruffino said the Deephers are considered the sister sorority of the Roxbury.
“I was awoken at 5:30 in the morning and was told all our car tires had been slashed,” Rufino said. In the parking lot every car had at least one tire cut into, he said.
Brockport Police is still investigating this case, and are looking into one or more leads based on evidence collected and witness testimonies. “My car had one [tire slashed], others had four, a couple of them had two, and there were mirrors kicked off,” Ruffino said.
The Brockport Police Department is inclined to believe from its investigation of the case that the numerous tires slashed that morning were connected.“It is believed that many if not all the tire punctures that night are related, there may have been one perpetrator or two,” Philippy said.
“I was pretty upset,” said Adam Diglea, another resident at the Roxbury. “I don’t know why someone would do this.”
Freshman accounting major Tim Sheridan has been using the municipal parking lot near Main Street about three to four times a week since he moved into his Holley Street apartment at the beginning of the semester. Like any other night, he parked his car on Friday, March 23, and headed home. He was planning to take his car in for brake repairs. He quickly realized he’d be fixing much more than brakes when he returned the next day to find his driver’s side window smashed, the interior of his car destroyed and almost $100 worth of property stolen.
“I walked up to my driver’s side door and there was glass everywhere,” Sheridan said. “My driver’s side door window was shattered. It was raining so all that was getting in and my seats were soaked. I opened the door and realized someone [had tried] to steal stuff. They went through my glove box; all my files and papers were thrown everywhere. My quarter tray was ripped out. I lost about 20 CDs … about $100 in just CDs. As they were taking the CDs they ripped the sun visor off.”
These stories are only three stories of a recent rash of car vandalisms the town of Brockport has been experiencing in recent weeks. Sheridan called Brockport police, who came to the scene to investigate.
According to Philippy, “There were two in the parking lot of the Villager Apartments which is on North Main Street, three in the Frontier lot on Eerie Street.. and then two more on State Street in the same night. They all appear to be similar motifs in the fact that the windows were broken and the property was taken from inside,” said Philippy.
“After the officer left, I was looking around the parking lot, and there were two other cars that had their driver’s-side window smashed through,” Sheridan said.“I was just another victim.”
“We expect this time of year to see an increase in certain types of property crime,” Philippy said. “This is certainly more than I’ve seen in awhile to this level and extent.” To combat this, Philippy said that Brockport Police Department has “plans to deploy some special attention units, which are basically dedicated units to check certain areas that are prone to this type of activity.”
Vandalism is certainly not the only type of violence students experience. However rare they may be, incidents of physical violence do occur. Take Gregory Parizek’s story for example.
Parizek, a sophomore art major, had gone out to a party in town with some friends, and after leaving ran into some kids he had never met before. These kids began antagonizing Parizek and his friends, he said. When they ran into them again later that night on Utica Street, Parizek said that at least two of the three kids “were obviously drunk.” After insults were thrown between both parties, a fist-fight broke out, he said. Parizek was in the middle, fighting with two of the group. Suddenly he heard his friend try to warn him about an incoming blow, when the individual took a swing at him with a rock but missed.
He was then punched from the left, and Perizek turned on his newest attacker. His friend attempted to pull him away from the fight, he said.
“As soon as I got to my feet, the rock was thrown from the first kid right into my face,” said Parizek. “I didn’t realize how bad it was until I felt my face and the blood running down it.”
Brockport police were called and able to catch the attackers, who will be facing charges in court this week. All three were minors and therefore their names are being kept confidential.
The NYS University Police were assisted by the Brockport Village Police in locating and detaining the felony suspects.
According to Philippy, “There were two in the parking lot of the Villager Apartments which is on North Main Street, three in the Frontier lot on Eerie Street ... and then two more on State Street in the same night. They all appear to be similar motifs in the fact that the windows were broken and the property was taken from inside,” Philippy said.
Sheridan’s first-hand observations were consistant with Philippy. “After the officer left, I was looking around the parking lot, and there were two other cars that had their driver’s-side window smashed through,” Sheridan said. “I was just another victim.”
The recent string of vandalism and violence has been the largest connected act that Phillipy has seen.
“We expect this time of year to see an increase in certain types of property crime,” Philippy said. “This is certainly more than I’ve seen in awhile to this level and extent.” To combat this, Philippy said that Brockport Police Department has “plans to deploy some special attention units, which are basically dedicated units to check certain areas that are prone to this type of activity.”
Vandalism is certainly not the only type of violence students experience. However rare they may be, incidents of physical violence do occur. Take Gregory Parizek’s story for example.
Parizek, a sophomore art major, had gone out to a party in town with some friends. After leaving he ran into some people he did not know. They began antagonizing Parizek and his friends, he said. When they ran into them again later that night on Utica Street, Parizek said that at least two of the three kids “were obviously drunk.”
After insults were thrown between both parties, a fist-fight broke out, he said. Parizek was in the middle, fighting with two members of the group. Suddenly he heard his friend try to warn him about an incoming blow, when the individual took a swing at him with a rock but missed.
He was then punched from the left, and Parizek turned on his newest attacker. His friend attempted to pull him away from the fight, he said.
“As soon as I got to my feet, the rock was thrown from the first kid right into my face,” Parizek said. “I didn’t realize how bad it was until I felt my face and the blood running down it.”
Brockport police were called and able to catch the attackers, who will be facing charges in court this week. All three were minors and therefore their names are being kept confidential.
The NYS University Police were assisted by the Brockport Village Police in locating and detaining the felony suspects.