Destructive Spree in West Point Under Investigation

By ANDY BEHLEN The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a group of vandals who took a particularly nasty joyride on a backhoe in the West Point area and spray painted graffiti on a wall of The Point convenience store.

According to Lt. David Beyer of the Sheriff’s Office, a caller reported the vandalism at around 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday, April 26. The destruction occurred the night before.

The owner of the backhoe was performing contract work for Fayette Water Supply in the West Point area and parked the piece of equipment at the jobsite overnight. 

Fayette Water Supply Manager Jim Rebecek said the vandals found the key to the backhoe, started it up, and used the rear bucket to destroy the fence around the well site.

“If they would have done any more damage to the well itself, it feeds (businesses and residents) in the town, we would have really been in bad shape,” Rebecek said. “I can’t believe they did this. Public water isn’t something you mess around with.” 

Rebecek said the contractor probably suffered the worse of all the victims. The vandals slashed the backhoe tires and busted out the dials on the dash panel. Then, adding insult to injury, the vandals defecated on the piece of equipment.

The vandals also spray painted graffiti on a wall at The Point convenience store. For some reason, the vandals turned on the water faucets at The Point and let them run all night. Rebecek said his company was able to analyze the store’s water usage for the night and pinpointed the time of the attack to around 3:15 a.m.

Beyer said Fayette County Crimestoppers if offering reward money up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the parties responsible for this crime. Anyone with information should contact Crimestoppers at (979) 968-8477 or (800) 272-TIPS. Callers may remain anonymous.