Vandals recently struck the football field at the Malandra Hall Community Center in Camden NJ, causing significant property damage.
According to authorities, multiple people broke into the facility and went joyriding on the grass. The tires on the vehicles left ruts in the grass. Additionally, the vandals reportedly spray-painted a swastika on the side of a fieldhouse.
A Camden County spokesperson stated that local law enforcement is treating the vandalism as a “bias intimidation incident.”
Officials indicated that the Camden community center has surveillance cameras that may have captured images of the suspects in the act of committing the vandalism. Camden NJ police are currently investigating the incident.
If and when the suspects are identified, it is likely that they would face criminal charges for criminal mischief. Depending on the amount of damage caused by the vandals, it is possible that the criminal mischief charges could be classified as a third degree felony.
Although the graffiti has already been removed from the field, Camden County Department of Public Works employees are still in the process of repairing the field to make it suitable for play.
The Camden Raiders youth football program plays its games and holds team practices at the Camden football field, so the young players were disappointed to find out that they would be unable to practice until the field was cleaned up.
The good news is that while the Camden youth football team waits for the field to be repaired, other teams in the South Jersey Independent Youth Football League have offered to provide assistance in the form of alternative venues for games and practices.
For further information about this case, go to the NJ.com article, “Vandals Paint Swastika, Ruin Youth Football Field in Camden.”
