Vandalism moves young and stupid

We all were young once. We all did stupid things. That's what kids do, it's what they've always done, and it's what they'll always do.

Most of us knew there was a line you never were to cross. No matter how the times have changed, that line still exists, but, unfortunately, some Allen County teenagers last week went flying past it. This continues a bothersome trend of vandalism that, if not increasing, at least is becoming much more costly and dangerous.

Two separate, unrelated incidents caused more than $100,000 in damages last week. One occurred at an Allen County golf course, and the other potentially put some emergency responders in danger no one ever should have to face. Both incidents begged for one of the young people to stop and wonder what he and his friends were doing, and either walk away or try to get the others to stop.

Sometime Monday night or early Tuesday morning, vandals overturned more than 70 golf carts at Hawthorne Hills Country Club, setting on fire and destroying 14 and causing heat damage to another dozen. The damage is believed to be more than $100,000. The Allen County Sheriff's Office quickly identified the people believed to have caused the damage. Five of them - one adult and four teenagers - were in court Wednesday.

Credit the Sheriff's Office for the quick response and Allen County Juvenile Court Judge Glenn Derryberry for keeping open the hearings of the minors. The media should be able to inform the public what is happening to the teenagers accused of causing so much damage.

Destroying property and jeopardizing other people's livelihoods isn't in the same ballpark - let alone the same league - as playing a prank. "I've never seen anything close to this," Hawthorne Hills golf pro Matt Otto told The Lima News. "Normally, a couple of kids will take a cart for a joy ride and maybe tear it up a little bit. They might move some flags or move things around but nothing like this."

The Hawthorne Hills vandalism isn't the first along these lines that has come since warm weather returned. Last month, the Sheriff's Office arrested two boys for vandalism in Bath Township's Country Club Hills neighborhood, where someone slashed car tires and swimming pool liners. In Lima, a group of people believed to be teenagers has targeted people for assault at 24-hour stores. In Shawnee Township, someone did thousands of dollars worth of damage to a scoreboard at Shawnee High School.

Violence against people and property cannot go unpunished. These incidents should serve as examples - in both criminal and civil courts - of what happens to people who go this far beyond the typical prank.

A potentially far more dangerous attempt at a prank came Sunday night in Lima when an occupant in a van tossed lighted fireworks at an ambulance - as the driver was filling up the tank. Fortunately, this only caused a bad scare. Ambulance driver John Downard followed the van and Lima police arrested took into custody 19-year-old Elida resident Dallas C. Melby.

Melby called The Lima News to say he was sorry for what he had done. He deserves credit for accepting blame without prompting or a court appearance, but that doesn't lessen the seriousness of what he originally did.

Kids will be kids. But, damage of more than $100,000 is no longer kids being kids. It's criminal stupidity. Had the fireworks done more than scare a driver, Melby would face charges much more serious than discharging fireworks. Those are things to think about before doing such things, not after.