WILMINGTON — The following information comes from incident reports provided by the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office. All those arrested are presumed innocent until possibly found guilty in court.
The sheriff’s office recently processed these reports:
• At 6 p.m. on July 15, deputies responded to Westboro Cemetery at the 500 block of Jonesboro Road in Midland on the report of several tombstones being pushed over or damaged. Upon arrival, deputies made contact with a male subject who advised, “He had just buried his son in the cemetery and had been coming through the last three days cleaning up his son’s gravesite.” He advised he was last there on July 14 around 6:30 p.m. and didn’t observe anything out of the ordinary. When he returned on the 15th, he observed a headstone “in the middle of the driveway and several other headstones laying on the ground,” according to the report. The responding deputy patrolled the cemetery and observed “numerous gravestones laying on the ground as if someone had pushed them over knocking them off of their base.” The deputy photographed all pushed over headstones. One was reportedly “broken into two pieces.” The deputy spoke with a neighbor to the cemetery who advised “he was sitting on the porch most the time and had been outside all day and observed no one” other than the reporter in the cemetery. The neighbor advised the last time someone had done this “it ended up being kids.” Authorities then contacted a Jefferson Township Trustee, who is in charge of the cemetery. He was shown the damaged headstones and he advised that he would take care of one in the middle of the driveway. The deputy advised there will be an open case on the incident and if the trustee needed any further documentation to contact the Sheriff’s Office. The incident remains under investigation.
• At 11 p.m. on July 12, deputies responded to the 1300 block of Antioch Road in Wilmington, Green Township, on a report of vandalism. Upon arrival, the deputy made contact with the 66-year-old male homeowner who advised he was in bed at approximately 10:55 p.m. “when he heard glass breaking at the side of his house,” according to the report. The homeowner stated his son yelled that “someone threw something through his bedroom window then sped away.” The homeowner told deputies he was in bed and heard the vehicle but was unsure who it may have been or could have been. Deputies observed the right side front window shattered and a “clear glass bottle” of green apple-flavored vodka “busted on the ground.” The deputy also observed the siding of the house to be wet with “splatter marks” on it. Deputies took photographs of the window, the broken bottle and collected it as evidence. The report indicates the bottle would be sent off to the lab in an attempt to gain fingerprints or DNA. The homeowner said he wished to pursue charges. Deputies made contact with the neighbor across the way who advised they didn’t hear or see anyone that may have caused the damage. The case is still under investigation.
