11/09/2008 - Bend
by Matt McDonald
 
It's raining in Gary Hooper's house. The ceiling is peeling away. The drywall is stripped bare and restoration workers have already pulled back the carpet to vacuum up all the water. The damage is extensive.
 
"I asked just a general question and he felt that it would probably be in the twenty to twenty-five thousand range to get it back to where it was," said Hooper.
 
Hooper and his partners, all family members who bought the house as an investment just a month ago, are the victims of an extreme case of vandalism. According to police someone broke in, turned on all the water faucets in the house and plugged every drain. Police think it happened sometime Saturday night. No one appears to witnessed the break-in. But police do have one lead in the case.
 
"One of the suspects, either the primary or other suspects that may have been involved in this, had been in or through the front window," said Lieutenant Ron Taylor from the Bend Police Department.
 
A possible fingerprint on the glass led police to take the window, with plans to send it to the crime lab. If they catch the suspect, the likely charge will be burglary because the suspects broke in with the intent to commit a crime and the punishment is steep.
 
"It could be up to a $100,000 fine and several years in jail," said Taylor.
 
Hooper says they'll clean up and stick with the plan to rent the property. They may add a security system, but they don't feel like they were specifically targeted.
 
"I think it was the property, a vacant property and we just happened to be the unlucky ones to be picked," said Hooper.