Corbin families target of persistent vandalism

Two Corbin families say they’ve had a lot of sleepless nights in recent months because of near-constant, malicious vandalism they claim is the work of a few local teens.
Linda Bray and her husband Paul, who live on Roy Kidd Ave., say they’ve had car tires slashed, paint jobs gouged and grooved with bricks or rocks and busted windshields. Vandals put water in the transmission of her husband’s pick-up truck, and dirt and rocks in the engine.
“None of us sleep anymore because we are up all night long watching,” Linda Bray said. “This has been going on for what seems like an eternity. It’s ruling our lives now. You shouldn’t have to stay up until 5 o’clock in the morning hiding in your bushes then go to work the next day. It’s awful.”
Just last Thursday, Bray said teens shot pellet guns at her car and house.
Though it started in early June, Bray said the worst of the damage happened July 4 weekend while the family was away on a camping trip. Five criminal complaints have been filed with the Corbin Police Department since June 8 regarding the vandalism.
Jamie and Amanda Ramsey, neighbors to the Brays, say they’ve lived on the street since March and now the vandalism has spread to involve them as well. Twice in August, they filed reports with police for damage done to their Lincoln Navigator sport utility vehicle.
Amanda Ramsey said she bought the car with the proceeds of an inheritance. The scratched paint job and broken windows are expensive to replace.
“I stay in my house. I don’t hardly go anywhere. It’s ridiculous,” she said. “I have a one-year-old boy and it’s hard to have to stay up all night to watch our stuff.”
Besides their vehicles, the Brays say a four-wheeler they own has been targeted as well. Vandals slashed the seat and punctured the tires.
Both families estimate the cost of the damage at about $5,000 and say it’s the work of a group of teens that call themselves The Westside Warriors. Members of the ad hoc gang range in age from 14 to 18. Since the beginning of the year, a total of 14 vandalism complaints have been received by the Corbin Police Department from residents of Roy Kidd Avenue.
Linda Bray said she and her husband have installed security lights and some video surveillance equipment. Jamie Ramsey, who works for a security company, said he and his wife will likely beef up their home’s security system to combat the problem.
Police run extra patrols in the neighborhood, but have had little luck catching anyone in the act. Linda Bray said that’s because the culprits are intimately familiar with the neighborhood and are extremely elusive. Her son-in-law chased one black-hooded vandal in early July, but could not catch him. Her husband confronted another who allegedly shot a pellet gun toward their property last week, but police could not find the gun when they arrived.
“I work over 100 hours a week at the railroad,” Paul Bray said. “These people live off my tax money. I’m fed up and they don’t want me running around fed up.”
Bray said he hopes police are able to stop the vandalism, but that if he catches one first “it’s not going to be pretty.”
Linda Bray said the vandalism isn’t just isolated to her family and the Ramsey’s.
“From what we gather, it’s other people on other streets too,” she said. “They are terrorizing us and our neighbors.”
She said if caught and found guilty, the culprits should be forced to pay restitution and serve jail time.