Former Marine out for vigilante justice

WARREN - Rick Lavey of Bristol, who owns a business on North Cutler Street, could be called a vandal vigilante after he leveled a shack frequented by youths he suspects of wreaking havoc on the neighborhood.

Last week, the 60-year-old former Marine said he had had enough after a group of youths, some from the area, allegedly rifled through several boxes containing photos, old mail, watches and a camera in his storage shed at the corner of Croade and Cutler streets.

Mr. Lavey said after they pushed opened the door, the vandals tossed over suitcases and took out boxes. Items they didn't want he found strewn in a field at the end of Croade Street, he said.

Last Wednesday,businessman Rick Lavey,who said he was tired of vandalism and thefts,hooked a rope to his truck and pulled the shack down. PHOTO BY RICHARD W. DIONNE JR.

Anything of value was gone. It took Mr. Lavey three hours to clean up the debris. And that most recent incident, he said, was the final straw.

And so last Wednesday, pumped up with indignation, he decided to take neighborhood justice into his own hands.

Along the paper trail he was cleaning up that morning, Mr. Lavey, accompanied by Warren Police Lieutenant Joseph Loiselle and Patrolman Kenneth Medeiros, found a make-shift shack, constructed of scrap wood, and weather-proofed by several tarps that Mr. Lavey said were his. A few steps into the wooded area, warehouse crates had been loosely stacked on top of one another to bridge a small stream.

The box-shaped hut sat in the midst of trash, beach chairs and empty bottles. Inside were two couches and a coffee table, which Mr. Lavey threw out the door.

The shack, built on the property lines of 30 Cutler Street Mill, Lloyd Manufacturing and Bristol County Dodge, was providing a safe haven for the vandals to stash stolen goods and for possible drug and alcohol use to occur, said Mr. Lavey. He believed if it were destroyed, much of the problem would disappear.

So, on a four-degree sunny afternoon with a wind-chill factor dipping well-below zero, the upset business owner tied a long rope around the teen hang-out behind the 30 Cutler Street Mill, tied the other end to his truck, hopped in the truck, stepped on the gas, and ripped the structure down.

He's convinced that without a hide-out, the youths will stop terrorizing the neighborhood. His neighbors hope he's right.

He's not alone

Mr. Lavey said he's sure this same group of both boys and girls, ages 14 to 18, previously smashed the rear window and front windshield of an SUV parked on his property. They terrorize the neighborhood, ripping shingles off roofs, breaking lights, and leave a trail of empty beer cans behind, he said.

He does not fault the police who respond to complaints called in over the past few years. Yet, because most are juveniles, nothing has changed.

Unless an officer catches a vandal in the act, or a witness can identify a person involved in such a crime, it is difficult for police to pursue charges, said Warren Police Lieutenant Joseph Loiselle. Some youths have gone to Family Court for single offenses like the ones Mr. Lavey described, but because most are under-age, the punishment is minimal.

Lt. Loiselle said police plan no action against Mr. Lavey.

Mr. Lavey is not the only resident or business owner in the neighborhood who's been victimized.

Allen White, distribution manager and building maintenance supervisor for Andrew Arruda, owner of 80 Cutler Street and Distinctive Brands Unlimited, said over the past few years there have been roughly 20 or 25 separate incidents of vandalism, all of which he has reported to the police.

Neighborhood youths have tampered with vehicles in the parking lot, pulled plants out of beds from the front of the building, stolen warehouse equipment to use for skateboard ramps, taken hanging plants from the building and smashed the pots in the middle of the street.

The security lights have been broken, construction signage from the side of the road has been moved and the outhouse for the construction workers tipped over. And the list goes on and on, he said.

Mr. White is normally the first one to notice any damage since he starts his rounds about 7 a.m. Summer is worse than winter and most of the damage occurs at night, he said.

He was very happy to learn that the fort in the woods had been razed.

"That's the big summer hang-out," he said. "And we've all done so much work on this street to bring the area up, the one thing you don't want to worry about is children vandalizing the neighborhood."

David Wescott, co-owner of the 30 Cutler Street Mill, said at his location the frequency of property damage has not been horrendous, although a rock was thrown through a window this fall. However, youths who hang out on the street do disrupt business, he said.

It used to be that neighborhood kids would take wooden palates and plywood and construct skateboard ramps with them. But then, the youths started causing problems on the street.

"Maybe these kids have gotten older, and they're not just skateboarding anymore," said Mr. Wescott. He said he understands why Mr. Lavey pulled down the shack, but doesn't think that it will have too much of an impact on the damage done in the neighborhood.

He said that as a preventative measure, he will have his maintenance man check the woods periodically to ensure the hang-out isn't rebuilt. He'll be sure to report any activity there. He and some employees plan to clean up debris left behind in the woods once the weather improves.

Incident reports

The Warren Police Department has responded repeatedly to North Cutler, Croade, and Joyce streets over the past two years. Below are only some of the incidents police have been called to.

2002

February — Youths seen throwing bottles at buildings

April — A sign at 30 Cutler Street damaged. A boat motor from down the road missing

May — Youths seen playing with fire alarms.

May — Complaints of noise on five separate occasions

May — Broken window at a business

July — Youths throwing items in the street

September — Mailbox stolen

2003

January — Broken window

February— Youths opening business doors, screaming, and running away

February — Youths throwing a ball at passing cars