Vandals strike at Hawthorne Hills; damage may top $100,000

LIMA - Charred remains of more than a dozen golf carts sat near the clubhouse at Hawthorne Hills Golf Club on Tuesday. The carnage from an overnight vandalism spree shocked employees at the club.

More than 70 golf carts were overturned. Fourteen carts were set on fire and were destroyed, said Maj. Clyde W. Breitigan, of the Allen County Sheriff's Office, said. Another half-dozen had heat damage and were partially disabled.

"I've never seen anything close to this," said Matt Otto, head golf professional at the club. "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."

Damage from the spree may exceed $100,000 by the time everything is tallied, Otto said.

Breitigan said deputies were called to the golf course at 6 a.m. Tuesday. The damage occurred sometime Monday night or early Tuesday, he said.

Six people were identified through an investigation by sheriff's deputies and detectives as possibly having a connection to the spree, Breitigan said. Five people - one adult and four juveniles - were being held pending the filing of formal charges. The Sheriff's Office refused to release the names of those being held.

"I don't think there's any specific motivation for it," Otto said. "It maybe started out as a prank and then just escalated from there."

Otto said the grounds superintendent and crew discovered the damage early Tuesday as they were arriving to get ready for the day.

Despite the damage, the golf club wasn't closed Tuesday. Otto said the club did have to turn away some customers who wanted to use golf carts. The club had some golf carts for patrons to use by early afternoon.

The incident at the golf club isn't the only vandalism spree across the Lima area recently.

Last month, two boys were arrested for a vandalism spree in Country Club Hills. Numerous car tires in the neighborhood were slashed and there was damage to several swimming pool liners.