Sutter Creek – Vandals struck twice in 3 days at the Sutter Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant last week, damaging 4 city-owned trucks and an old police car. Public workers arrived Friday morning at the plant, at the end of Mahoney Mill Road and found windows broken an out-of-service police car, which previously had been wrecked. They also slashed all 4 of its tires. They found a building’s window opened and a screen removed, and called the Sutter Creek Police Department. City Manager Sean Rabe said the perpetrators took keys to 2 city public works trucks, Dodge and Chevy half-ton trucks. They drove one through a locked gate, and then drove both down a dirt road. They left the trucks, about ¼ mile down a dirt road, a service road to the Amador Regional Sanitation Authority system. Rabe said the vandals broke a windshield on a GMC dump truck, using a rock, a tree branch and a car battery. Rabe said vandals went to the wastewater treatment plant sometime Saturday night and drove a different truck, through the locked gate. They left the 2-ton sludge truck by the gate. Damage estimates were not yet made. Rabe said “the police car was already wrecked, but it had not been declared ‘totaled’ by the insurance company.” The gate was damaged, repaired, then broken again Saturday night, so it had to be repaired again. He said vandals stole the keys to the trucks, and city workers could only locate one truck’s keys, so it will have to be rekeyed. Rabe said police are still investigating. He said the “good thing is, they did not do any damage to the actual sewer treatment plant.” He said the vandals “gained access to the whole plant by going through that gate.” So far, the city found no damage to the plant. The first day’s damage was found early Friday, September 11th, and the second day’s damage was discovered and reported by the public works crew Sunday morning, September 13th. Rabe assumed the vandals could face charges of breaking and entering and vandalism. They caused mild to moderate damage on 4 trucks and the police car. They caused pretty good sized dents on the front of one truck and the door of another, but both are still drive-able. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.