COVINA >> Vandals smashed the windows of three vehicles in a Covina neighborhood late Wednesday or early Thursday, damaging not only the vehicles, but also an elderly local couples decade-old effort to help feed the needy.
Residents alerted police shortly after 8 a.m. that the windows of a minivan had been shattered in the 300 block of North Shadyglen Drive, and a car and pickup truck had also had windows smashed out around the corner in the 1000 block of East Ruddock Street, Covina police Sgt. Trevor Gaumer said.
One of the damaged vehicles was a 1996 Dodge Caravan owned by Lillian Grana and her husband, Phillip. The couple refers to the minivan as their “bread truck,” as they keep and maintain it solely for the purpose of making bread deliveries to seniors and the needy .
“I just can’t believe people would do something like that,” Lillian Grana said. The minivan’s rear windshield was smashed, along with two windows on the passenger side.
Several times a week, the couple loads up the “bread van,” as well as there personal vehicle, with unsold bread from area grocery stores and brings then to Covina’s senior center, where they are among the 120 members, she explained. Whatever remains, the couple drops off at local food pantries.
“We’ve been doing this for more than 10 years,” she said.
While the van is insured, the policy has a $500 deductible, which Lillian Grana said the couple cannot afford.
And it’s the minivan’s special purpose that has the couple shaking their heads over the senseless vandalism.
“If it was just us and our car, we’d say, ‘It’s an old car anyway, we’ll dump it.’ But it affects so many people.”
it effects so many people.
Police have seen cases in the past where vandals — often teenagers — go on vandalism sprees with BB guns or slingshots. It was unclear how the windows were shattered in the vandalism reported Wednesday.
No additional cases had been reported recently, Gaumer said. Officers were advised to keep an eye out in case the vandalism spree continued.
“We’re hoping this isn’t the start of a new trend,” Gaumer said.
