St. John looking to end paint-ball attacks

Published 12:00 am Saturday, March 24, 2001

AMY SZPARA

LAPLACE – The LaPlace area has a few pranksters on the loose, and several local residents have been the bunt of a joke that they didn’t find funny at all. Some people in town have had rude awakenings lately upon getting up in the morning and walking out for the paper or to get in the car to head to work. Victims of paint-ballers have had enough, and they are hoping that the St. John Sheriff’s Office will soon find the culprits and put the nighttime property attacks to an end. Paint-balling, a sport that some youngsters enjoy, consists of gearing up with guns that shoot paint balls which explode upon impact, leaving paint splattered all over the victim’s clothes. Those who go paint-balling wear eye protection, but the balls do not hurt when they hit someone. They simply cause a slight sting. Kids usually break up into teams and play war with the paint-ball guns in the woods or visit a paint-ball gallery where they can pay to play the game. But a group of paint-happy night-crawlers decided that they would rather shoot at property in the LaPlace area, and some residents in St. John have been their victims. The paint-ballers are believed to be teen-agers, and they are striking late at night between the hours of 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. The nighttime shenanigans, which to the jokesters probably equates to toilet-paper rolling that is so popular with high-schoolers when they want to have a little late-night fun, causes a mess that is hard to clean up. It is also illegal, because damaging property is vandalism. According to Capt.. Mike Tregre of the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office, the paint-balling incidents are not part of an epidemic. He said it has happened a few times, and it is being looked into. “It’s not a nightly occurrence,” said Tregre. “It’s gone on for a little while, but not recently. We don’t have a whole lot to go on. “If people are riding around shooting at random, there’s not a whole lot to go on unless someone sees them or they brag about it,” he said. “And if anyone has seen them or heard them talk about it, they need to call us.” The vandals have damaged property such as cars in some neighborhoods, signs in a subdivision and an entrance to one subdivision. “They are destroying property that people work hard for,” Tregre said. If anyone has any information about who has been vandalizing property with paint, they are encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office at 652-9513.