No evidence linking car vandals to BC

By Christina Pazzanese, Globe Correspondent  |  September 28, 2008

Is there a problem lately in Brighton with cars being vandalized? And does it have anything to do with the fall return of students? It seems the answers depend on whom you ask.

Tipster Thomas Griffin's car was damaged by vandals late at night on Sept. 13.

"We park on the back side of the reservoir behind the condos along Comm. Ave. We were awakened . . . on Sunday morning by a state trooper who told us about the vandalism," Griffin wrote in a post on a Brighton neighborhood message board last week.

"Several other cars were vandalized along with ours. A paving stone was thrown at our windshield and at both sides of our car. There are dents on the sides and the windshield was shattered. Although we had the window replaced and the car detailed, we were told we would likely find pieces of glass for months. There were shards of glass in the air vents (not a good thing when you're transporting a 3-month-old baby around). Nothing was stolen from the cars. Whoever did this took their time with no care in the world (as they struck so many cars on that one night). They were out to have fun."

In an e-mail interview with GlobeWatch, Griffin said an insurance claims adjuster reviewed the damage to his car last week. Griffin believes he's on the hook for the $500 deductible.

Others posting on the message board said their cars have been hit in recent weeks and speculate that rowdy students from Boston College are responsible. Bruce MacDougall, a 48-year Brighton resident who lives on Commonwealth Avenue near the school, tells GlobeWatch things have gotten worse this fall, with groups of young people he believes to be of college age roaming his neighborhood late at night every weekend smashing parked cars, driving dangerously up and down Commonwealth Ave., and vandalizing bushes.

"The last few years have been outrageous," he said. "Police need to be more proactive." MacDougal said he attended meetings with Boston College officials two years ago to complain, but "got so fed up" with the lack of response, he stopped going.

State Police, who patrol a small section of the Reservoir area, report that five vehicles were damaged by someone wielding a concrete block in the vicinity of 1900 Commonwealth Avenue on the night of Sept. 13, Trooper Thomas Murphy said. But officers from the Brighton barracks consider it an isolated incident and report that there "hasn't been any ongoing damage" to cars, Murphy said.

Boston Police at the Brighton District 14 station also see no spike in vandalism to cars parked around the Boston College area in the past month. "There are more cars in Brighton now with the students back, and the [numbers] have not stated that there is a problem in the area," said Sergeant William Fogarty, a community services officer.

Fogarty said police received five reports of vandalism in Brighton that night, but only one near the BC campus.

Vandalizing cars is "not behavior that's consistent with college students and not consistent with Boston College students," said Jack Dunn, a BC spokesman. "This isn't what they do." He added that it's more likely that high-school-age kids inflicted the damage.

Dunn said that even when no evidence links the destruction to BC students, they "tend to be a scapegoat" for bad behavior because of the school's large size and high profile.

Edward Davis
Police Commissioner
Boston Police Headquarters
One Schroeder Plaza
Boston, MA 02120-2014
617-343-4200