Cops Stumped as Vandals Egg House for a Year

'Somebody is deeply, deeply angry': police
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 8, 2015 1:11 PM CDT
Updated Mar 8, 2015 1:45 PM CDT
Cops Stumped as Vandals Egg House for a Year
A home that has been pelted with eggs several times a week for a year is shown Friday, March 6, 2015, in Euclid, Ohio.   (Tony Dejak)

An 85-year-old man says his suburban Cleveland home has been pelted with eggs several times a week for a year, and police haven't been able to crack the unusual case despite stakeouts, questioning neighbors, installing a surveillance camera, and even testing eggshells as evidence. The homeowner and Euclid police suspect the eggs are launched a block or two away. "The accuracy is phenomenal," Albert Clemens Sr. tells Cleveland.com. "Because almost every time when it's nice weather and they launch five or six of these at a time, they almost invariably hit the front door." The after-dark attacks sometimes sound like gunshots as eggs splatter on the aluminum siding, creating a residue that strips the paint, he said. Officers haven't determined a suspect or specific motive, though they have suspicions. "Somebody is deeply, deeply angry at somebody in that household for some reason," says a police rep.

Clemens used to clean up each time but quit because it happens so often. His insurer won't settle a claim until police catch the vandals, so Clemens is waiting until then to make repairs. But he refuses to move from the home he shares with his adult daughter and son, on a corner less than a mile from the police station. "I would live and die in this house—but it's been kind of a nightmare," Clemens said. Police traced the eggs to a local Amish farm, but fingerprinting shattered shells proved useless because egg proteins destroy DNA. Police have spent hundreds of hours on the investigation, but their involvement doesn't seem to be a deterrent. Once, an egg hit an officer in the foot as he took a report on the vandalism. "The person or people who are doing it have remained very tight-lipped apparently," says the police rep. (More vandalism stories.)

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