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A sick mind is loose
Twice during the past several months someone has broken into the Sperry ville Volunteer Rescue Squad building and vandalized the squad’s equipment.
The first time, records from a filing cabinet upstairs were strewn about the room and equipment was removed from the back of one of the ambulances and thrown on the floor of the downstairs bay.
That incident was bad enough. It was discovered by members who went to the building for a work detail. The sheriffs department investigated the incident, but got no results.
The second time, this past Saturday night, was far more serious. Squad members went to the building to answer an emergency call for an unconscious person. When they raised the bay door, they found one of the ambulance’s front tires flat. The valve stem had been removed and lay on the floor next to the tire.
Since the squad’s second ambulance is out of service for maintenance, the squad was unable to respond because its only ambulance was disabled. Thankfully, another squad was able to answer the call, and the patient received needed care.
These senseless acts go far beyond simple vandalism. If someone dies as a result of their actions, it seems to us a case of murder—just as surely as if they had held a gun to the person’s head and pulled the trigger. The sick individual or group who has perpetrated these acts — for whatever twisted reason — needs help. And, they need to be punished — severely.
If anyone in the community has any knowledge of the identity of this vandal, we hope they will give that information to the sheriffs department. As stated before, these acts are not vandalism. There is some malice involved; some reason they are targeting an organization whose only purpose is to serve its neighbors.
If there is someone out there who knows who committed those acts but is reluctant to come forward, remember that the next time such an incident occurs, and the squad is unable to respond, it could be a member of your family whose life hangs in the balance.
There is a person with a warped mind loose in our community, and for the safety of all they need to be identified, caught and punished -— before they kill someone.
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