A 72-year-old woman addressed the Perryville Board of Aldermen at its Nov. 19 meeting complaining that someone was throwing objects at her home on Blackberry Lane.
The items thrown included pink screws, white marbles and silver bolts. The homeowner told the board that the projectiles had left a large hole in the side of her home.
“I did call the police, and they came over and looked at it,” she said. “When we stepped out in the backyard, I looked up on the roof and I have all kinds of stuff up there too.”
Asked if she had ever heard any of the objects hit her home, the woman said, “Oh, yeah. The first night — this last one — it was like 9:15, 9:30 (p.m.). I just got in bed and ‘boom!’ So, I looked out. It was dark and I wasn’t going to go out there for fear that somebody would shoot me.”
She said the police officer suggested that the materials might have been left on the site by the contractor and had been projected towards the home by a lawn mower.
“The yard hadn’t been mowed for like three weeks,” the woman said.
A member of the board asked if any of her neighbors had experienced the same problem.
“Yes,” she said, “They haven’t had any damage like I’ve had.”
She explained to the board that, because of the way her house sits on the lot, the roof is an “open target.”
The woman said, “My neighbor his [home] goes this way, so they don’t shoot that, but they have found these nuts and bolts in their yard.”
The woman said she had reported the incident to the police around 10 days before and that their report was ready for her to pick up.
“But they said there’s no suspect,” she said. “I wanted in in writing from the police department because, with all the stuff that was up on the roof, my fear is whatever they’re using to get it up there. I have no clue, but what if there’s a hole in the roof? I can pay for the two boards in the siding replaced, but a roof would be a different story. It would go against my insurance. That’s why I wanted the report in writing, but the officer really didn’t want to do it because there’s no suspect.”
The woman told the board that she had done some investigation on her own in an attempt to find the suspect.
“Why is somebody doing it?” she asked. “Am I doing something that’s irritating somebody? Well, the only thing I can think of is I turn my back porch light on at like 5:30 in the morning. I feed a cat out there. But this actually happened at like 9:15 and 9:30 at night.”
The woman also noted that sometimes in the early morning hours, she heard someone walking through her yard or coming out of a nearby home shouting obscenities.
“So, you know, that doesn’t bother me,” the woman said. “I mean, I’m a light sleeper anyway, but you know, this bothers me because it’s money out of my pocket.”
After further discussion in which the woman told of her conversations with several neighbors and her plans to purchase security cameras for her property, she told the board she thought it would be nice if the police would increase their presence on her street as a means of discouraging further acts of vandalism.
In other action, the board:
– approved items on the consent agenda.
– approved a resolution entering into an administration agreement with the SEMO Regional Planning Commission regarding the Recreational Trails Program Viola Blechle Paved Trail project designed to help develop park infrastructure in communities throughout Missouri.
– passed an ordinance for holding a general election in April that will include three aldermanic seats: Ward 1 – Seth Amschler; Ward 2 – Doug Martin; and Ward 3 – Dave Schumer. This year’s filing period takes place between Dec. 10 and 31.
– heard reports from the city administrator and city engineer.
– heard board concerns and comments.
