Established 1826 — Oldest College Newspaper West of the Alleghenies

Sporadic vehicle vandalism remains constant issue

This vehicle, parked on Maple Street, could have fallen victim to car vandals.
This vehicle, parked on Maple Street, could have fallen victim to car vandals.

Tom Segell, Senior Staff Writer

This vehicle, parked on Maple Street, could have fallen victim to car vandals. (KATHRYN ANDERSON | The Miami Student)

Contrary to student opinion and its appearance in the police briefs, car vandalism is not on the rise, according to the Oxford Police Department (OPD).

OPD Lieutenant Tom Horvath said he has not noticed a spike in car vandalism but acknowledged it comes in waves.

"We get them in spurts," Horvath said. "It's not like every weekend where we get 100 of them. It happens on sporadic weekends."

Students sometimes complain of a broken side mirror, usually ripped off by the perpetrator, but that's not the only crime Horvath has seen.

"We typically see the broken mirror," Horvath said. "But there are other senseless things like a broken antenna."

Miami University senior Brian Johnson was a recent victim of this crime.

"Someone knocked my passenger side mirror off while it was parked near Spring (Street) and South Poplar Street, roughly three weeks ago," Johnson said.

Johnson has no speculations on who did it, but said he is irritated about replacing the costly mirror.

"I'm not sure who did it, but I've heard of some kid going around knocking off mirrors," Johnson said.

Johnson said he hasn't gotten it fixed yet, but new mirrors tend to be around $250 to $300.

Johnson also believes alcohol played a part in the criminal mischief, which is a trend Horvath mentioned.

"There seems to be a pattern of intoxication where somebody goes down the street knocking them off," Horvath said.

Horvath admitted there tends to be a frequency of car vandalism Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

Horvath also said he occasionally hears of crimes where the car is broken into, to steal things like CD players.

Senior Michael Federle had his car broken into while visiting Ohio State University, but he believes car vandalism will happen on many college campuses.

"I feel like at Ohio State they have a much bigger problem with crime than here at Miami," Federle said. "I think that vandalism, especially, is going to happen anywhere you have people who get blacked out on a regular basis and do stupid things they normally wouldn't. It's going to happen on college campuses."

Horvath recommends a few precautionary moves to help keep your vehicle safe.
"It would be advantageous if you can park in a well-lit area, and keep your things in the trunk," Horvath said.