Vandalism at Kimbell Park Playground Construction Site

[Noni Richen]

On Sunday, December 21, 2015, around 5:00 pm  two vandals broke into the Kimbell Park playground construction site at Geary and Steiner.  They managed to start up two small backhoes and drive around the site dragging a piece of equipment that gouged out part of the completed playground.  This damage will set the schedule back at least a week and will cost about $20,000 of our tax dollars to repair.  The contractor's representative, Dan Hickman of Anvil Builders, opined that the vandals had a universal key similar to those used by lot attendants at rental car agencies and started the equipment that way.  He said that they will now take the batteries out of the backhoes.   I asked my daughter, who witnessed the activity and called police, for a description of the two people.  She says they were two African-American boys who appeared to be about 12 - 14 years old, one wearing a red sweatshirt and the other wearing a white one.