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Two incidents of unrelated vandalism rocked fraternities this past weekend, the latest occurrences in a line of illegal incidents up and down College Ave. this past year.
Members of Tau Kappa Epsilon found that vehicles in the fraternity house parking lot had been vandalized on Sunday morning. Of the 22 vehicles parked in the lot overnight, 18 had punctured tires.
The incident marks the second time that the parking lot has been targeted this year. During winter break, vehicles at the TKE house were broken into and items inside were stolen. No one was found responsible for the vehicle break-ins.
Derek Bizier, TKE president, stated that he feels the two incidents in the parking lot appear unrelated.
“They were completely different motives,” he said.
He said many are upset it happened, regardless of the reason behind it.
“It’s a pretty big inconvenience, especially for those who had to travel to buy tires,” Bizier said.
On Wednesday, two UMaine students came forward and admitted to causing the damage in the TKE lot. Peter R. Duquette, 20, of Orono and Jason C. Lofgren, 21, also of Orono turned themselves into Public Safety and told authorities they caused the damage in the TKE lot. Both were issued summons for criminal mischief.
The incident is said to have occurred between the hours of 4:30 and 9:00 a.m. University of Maine Public Safety Lt. Michael Zubik reported that one vehicle had two tires slashed.
Zubik arrived at the scene shortly after 9 a.m., and he informed the fraternity members that normally it is difficult to find suspects in cases involving vandalism with no witnesses to the incident.
UMPD recorded information, examined vehicles for damage and collected evidence from the scene for over two hours. The tire punctures were made with what appears to have been a small knife, according to Zubik. The piercing on each tire was about one-half to three-quarter inches, and the marks on all tires were fairly consistent.
Zubik removed fingerprints from one of the damaged vehicles while searching for evidence.
“I did lift some fingerprints off of the cars, likely that of the suspect,” Zubik said.
The fingerprints were lifted from an area above the wheel-well on one of the vehicles, according to Bizier.
One TKE brother took photos of each of the damaged vehicles while police inspected them. UMPD does not believe that there is a correlation between the tire-slashing that occurred at the Steam Plant parking lot in February and the TKW vandalsim.
“There’s nothing to indicate that at this time,” Zubik said.
Damage is said to be estimated at approximately $1,200, according to Zubik. Five of the vehicles vandalized belonged to individuals not associated with the fraternity.
“There’s a difference between a prank and outright vandalism,” Travis McAlpine, vice president of TKE said.
Bizier and McAlpine suspect that the incident may have occurred in the TKE parking lot because it is accessible, far from campus and not well-lit at night.
Both Duquette and Lofgren are scheduled to appear in court May 6 for the Class D crime.
Another vandalism occurred at Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity on Thursday night, when red spray paint was used to write obscenities on the sign and side of the house, according to UMPD.
The vandalism is said to have occurred between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Footprints with red spray paint were found on the scene, leading away from the house, according to Zubik.
There are no suspects in the incident at this time.
“Our initial reaction to the vandalism was nothing more than annoyance. After the police report was filed, we were able to clean everything up that morning,” Devon Gaudet, PIKE president said. “Since that morning it hasn’t been a point of focus for the brotherhood.”
Bangor Daily News