Apartment complex evicts tenants tied to church vandalism
UPDATE: Management of Brookside Apartments has evicted the tenants of the apartment where the church vandalism took place, according to a company spokesman.
Brookside spokesman Jack Cardetti tells ABC 17 News that the company became aware of the video Thursday after the church notified them of the vandalism. Cardetti said Brookside security team tracked down those involved.
“The incident in the video took place Wednesday evening,” Cardetti said. “We became aware of it yesterday and have evicted all three tenants of that apartment. The student throwing the object in the video is not a Brookside resident, but we believe is an MU student. We have turned all information over to the Columbia Police Department and would hope those involved are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
ORIGINAL: Columbia police are investigating property damage at a downtown church after a video started circulating on Twitter that showed a person breaking one of the church’s windows.
The video appears to show a young man throwing an object from a balcony across the street through an upper-story window of the Missouri United Methodist Church.
Coach Odom needs to save this man a scholarship pic.twitter.com/ZdGythBEr4
— Barstool Mizzou (@BarstoolMizzou) August 22, 2019
Columbia Police Department spokesman Steve Sapp said police took a report about the incident Wednesday but no other details were available. He said investigators have seen the tweet, which was posted on a Barstool Sports account.
Church spokeswoman Teressa Galbreth confirmed the damage and said police are investigating.
“That video makes it a lot easier for the police,” to track down a suspect, she said.
The damage was discovered Thursday morning by a church maintenance worker, she said.
Galbreth said the church did not yet have an estimate on the repair costs, but said the church is a registered historic building, meaning replacement windows must fit specific criteria and are not easily available.
The window was in a fourth floor storage room on this building’s historic east side, church leaders said in a statement posted on the church Facebook page.
The statement said the church believes this is an isolated incident and not representative of the community.
(Editor’s note, 8/23: This story has been updated with the latest information, previously titled ‘Columbia police investigating church damage’.)
