Vandals caused up to $1,400 worth of damage earlier this week to vehicles that are dedicated to transporting seniors and people with disabilities.
Catholic Community Services operates Ketchikan Senior Services and the transit service for seniors and people with disabilities.
Marianne Mills, the Juneau-based director of Catholic Community Services, said she got a call early Tuesday morning reporting the vandalism.
“Five out of six of our vehicles had been vandalized,” she said. “On each of the five vehicles, one of the tires was slashed.”
Officials with the Ketchikan Senior Services discovered the vandalism at about 4 a.m., Mills said, and they contacted the police to give a report, before scrambling to get the vans fixed.
“Bob the mechanic at the borough was extremely helpful,” she said. “And the site manager and the dispatcher should be commended on how they just took care of everything so quickly with the help of Bob and Shaub, who provided assistance with the tires in a very expedient manner so we were able to continue our transportation service without turning down any of our para-transit clients, which is pretty amazing.”
The Ketchikan Gateway Borough contracts with the senior center to provide required ADA public transportation services.
The center also receives transit funding through the state, Mills said.
Ketchikan Police Department Deputy Chief Josh Dossett said police are investigating the vandalism, which took place in a gravel parking lot near Berth 4 downtown.
“There are security cameras in the area,” he said. “I don’t know if they actually covered that part of the lot. That’ll be part of the investigation to find out.”
Insurance should cover the cost of repairs to the five vehicles, Mills said.
She said repairs were completed quickly enough that they were able to maintain service for all of their scheduled clients.
