Beer bottle target practice outside Wallaceburg

crime stoppers sign

A sign that promotes community awareness about solving crimes, appears to have been targeted by people armed with beer bottles.

A large sign on Baseline Road, just as you are entering Wallaceburg, helps promote Chatham-Kent Crime Stoppers.

The sign itself is battered with cracks, large holes, and dents and is littered with shards of glass and broken beer bottles at its base.

“I started noticing the odd dent periodically,” said a local resident in the area, who we will not name.

“Next thing I know I actually walked over there with my dogs, and I noticed it has been hit many, many times. They are tossing their bottles out and aiming for that Crime Stoppers sign.”

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“I picked up 25 bottles there on Friday and I noticed a whole bunch of them in the ditch which I haven’t retrieved and a lot of broken ones laying down below. Is that a bullseye for the drinkers that are coming into town or what?”

The apparent prevalence of drinking and driving concerned the local resident.

“It really upsets me. How much drinking and driving is going on on the roads? There has got to be an awful lot of it and that upsets me.”

The resident said they have mentioned it to other people, who tend to laugh and shrug it off.

One person asked “‘didn’t you do that when you were a kid?’ I said, ‘no, I didn’t destroy people’s property like that.’ I guess it doesn’t bother a lot of people but it bothers me.”

The resident also wondered if it was worth mentioning it all.

“You can’t always turn a blind eye on all of this stuff,” they said.

“You have bring it to somebody’s attention. Will this escalate the bottle toss at that sign now or not? I don’t know.”

Const. Renee Cowell, public information officer for the Chatham-Kent Police Service, told the Sydenham Current she has not seen this mischief reported to police.

“We are disappointed to hear that people felt the need to damage the Crime Stoppers sign on Baseline Road, especially with beer bottles,” Cowell said.

“Crime Stoppers is a great program that helps police solve crime and ultimately keep our community safer. We hope this is an isolated incident and remind citizens to contact police immediately whenever a suspicious person or activity is seen.”

Cowell added RIDE programs are held throughout the Municipality at various locations and times.

Const. David Bakker, the coordinator for Chatham-Kent Crime Stoppers, could not be reached for immediate comment.

Watch for more on this story.

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