Ottawa County news. (Port Clinton, Ohio) 1931-1956, 1955-05-20
VANDALISM -.
Continued from Page ID

continued from rage ~
Madison-St, and Carlton Easton,
Erie Gardens, at LIS am. Sunday
on E. Second-st near Madison, after
car owned by Vern Schmarde-
beck which had been reported
stolen from Fourth-st at 1920 pm.
was found abandoned in an alley
off Fulton-st.
With every member of the police
department participating, question
ing of the two boys implicated
David Stafford, Sixth-St, and Brent
Cover as also being in the "bor
rowed cars" deal. They were
brought in for questioning.
1t was during the questioning of
young Cover by Deputy Hetrick
and Sheriff Merlan Budd at the
county jail that the first concrete
lead on the vandalism came out.
Deputy Hetrick contacted Austin
(who as of Sunday was still Acting
Captain of the police Department.
and they set out on all day check
which resulted in obtaining confes-
sions of Dracka, Kreager, and
Druyor along with Cover
Easton, Stafford, and Pean were
not participants of the vandalism
wave and were involved only in
the car deal, officers said. But they
plus Cover face charges on the
May 8 theft of a car owned by
John Karshuk, taken from Lincoln
Drive and abandoned at the high
school; the May IL theft of car
owned by Mrs. Beryl Welty, taken
from in front of Guild Hall and
abandoned on Laurel-avenue; the
| May 13 theft of 1854 car owned
by Harvey Hepner, taken from be-
hind Erie Tavern which was wreck
ed on Bay Shore Road with result
! ant damages of about ST. 900; and
the May IA theft of the Schmarde-
beck car.
Cover and Pean were in the
Hephner car when it hit a pole
near the Celotex Corporation Fri
day, officers said. They were only
slightly bruised, and walked back
to town. Pean was alone when he
took the Schmardebeck car Satur-
day, and drove to Gem Beach where
he met Easton, who had his faith
er's car. He followed EaSton home
and Easton then joined him in the
stolen car. Police charged Easton
only with concealing information
about stolen property Stafford and
Pean were involved in the Welty
car episode.
Not All Together
The four in tle vandalism
charges, Dracka, Kreager, Druyor
and Cover, were not together in
all of the cases. Most of the Jobs
were two-boy affairs. Dracka and
Cover admitted the Kokinda van
dalism, while Cover and Druyol
we're in Nehls break-in. Dracka de
clared he had no part in any joE
where money was obtaine/.
With attitudes ranging from re
pentant to defiant, the boys coulc
7 not give Deputy Hetrick an answer
when he asked why they had per
petrated the acts of vandalism.
II guess we were looking fol
money, in the first place." said ont
of the boys. "And if we didn't fine
it we just decided to have some
fun"
AT the Kokinda home, valuable
clocks were smashed, water wa
turned on to flood the bath ant
: Kitchen, lamp shades were rippe'
! and other damage confronted tn
family when it returned home a
$50 after a two hour absence
Similar damage, but on lesSe
! scale, was done at the Niemal
| home.
A watch taken at Kokinda's Wa
thrown away after "the crysta
came off and the works fell out
the boys declared A cigarett
lighter also was thrown ava!
They declared none of them eve
took any stolen items to t-lei
homes.
The vandalism was at its pea