Queen Creek vandalism incident leaves senior community residents worried

QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. - Police in Queen Creek are investigating a string of vandalism at a senior community and nearby neighborhoods.

According to investigators, vandals were caught on surveillance video causing damage at the Ovation At Meridian community, and they are now investigating if the same suspects were also involved in other vandalism that happened the same night.

At around 1:30 a.m. on March 9, at least two people were spotted at the 55 and over community.

"It was the first night of spring break for the kids around here," said one area resident.

The two were first seen running in and out of a recreation center, breaking a window to get into the gym, and throwing furniture at television sets.

"We don't know if it's young kids or adults, but why do they have to destroy people's property? Makes me really feel uncomfortable," said Daniel Vidales.

One resident also reported a broken window, after someone threw rocks at it. That was one of a number of incidents.

"I got up in the morning and called SRP, and there wasn't an outage," said another resident who did not want to be identified. "I checked my utility box outside. It was wide open. The power had been shut off. My irrigation box was open, and my gate to my backyard was open, so somebody had obviously been in the area."

Queen Creek Police have stepped up patrol, but residents say more needs to be done.

"We need cameras," said Gloria Vidales. "That was the main thing."

Officials with home builder company Taylor Morrison say they are increasing security measures by installing additional cameras at strategic locations identified by Queen Creek police. They have also hired an off-duty officer for security.