WATERBURY, Conn. (WTNH) — Waterbury city leaders are investigating who drove into Waterville Park and performed doughnuts all over the grass.
“I walk here every day and it’s pretty disgusting that somebody would do this,” said Mick Spillane, of Waterbury.
Spillane spends his lunch breaks in the park and raises the American flag on the nearby flagpole.
“There was no flag there, so I took my finance’s father’s flag from World War II and ran it up the pole,” Spillane said.
Old Glory is now overlooking the new mess.
Mark Lombardo, with Waterbury’s Public Works Department, said the city believes at least one car was involved.
He said vandalism like this happens often in the city’s 30 parks, either from cars, ATVs or dirt bikes. It costs thousands of dollars to repair the fields — and they rarely catch those responsible.
“It’s seldom, unless the ATV runs out of gas, or the dirt bike runs out of gas, or the vehicle runs out of gas,” Lombardo said. “It’s very hard to catch these folks.”
He said the city installs fencing and chains to prevent more damage.
Regardless of what leaders do, Spillane said the city can’t pump the brakes on the vandals.
“The way they drive the four-wheelers and the dirt bikes, running people off the road,” Spillane said. “There’s no talking to people like that. So, I just hope someone catches them.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Waterbury police or the city’s public works department.
The video below aired in our 5 p.m. newscast on June 6, 2023.