Authorities want your help identifying vandals in surveillance video
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IDAHO FALLS — Police are trying to determine who’s responsible for vandalizing two buildings in Idaho Falls several weeks ago.
Surveillance video from Wood Funeral Home on July 9 shows four people who appear to be teenage boys kicking sprinkler heads in front of First Presbyterian Church at 325 Elm Street. The boys can then be seen walking across the street and doing something similar at the funeral home. Watch it in the video above.
It happened at 4:21 a.m., according to Wood Funeral Home owner Brian Wood. The boys also tore a light fixture off a column in front of the business.
Wood says there was extensive damage to the sprinklers on his property.
“It actually broke the pipe underneath the ground, not just the heads,” he says. “Our maintenance team had to dig up the entire line and replace it.”
When he showed up at work the next day, there was water all over the sidewalk due to broken sprinklers and the light was missing.
Reverend Phil Hagen says only two or three sprinklers were damaged at the church.
It ended up being a $1,500 repair for Wood Funeral Home, and a few hundred dollars for the presbyterian church.
Jessica Clements with the Idaho Falls Police Department confirms there is an active investigation into the vandalism. There aren’t currently any leads on who’s responsible.
Wood is hoping the community can help identify the people in the video.
“We’re frustrated with the vandalism (on both of these properties),” Hagen says. “These are organizations that help people and when we’re having to spend money to fix physical property, it means we’re not able to help like we want to.”
Wood feels the same way, and he’s urging people to think before making decisions like this in the future.
“The only thing (vandalism accomplishes) is set us back in our ability to serve people,” says Wood. “The presbyterian church is a beloved church in our community. It’s been here many years, as well as our funeral home and that part of downtown.”
Wood is asking anyone who can identify the suspects to send an email to Wood@woodfuneralhome.com. Use “Attn: Brian Wood vandalism” in the subject line. Reporting parties should also call police at (208) 529-1200 and reference case number 2023-24824.
You can also report anonymously through Crime Stoppers. Those with information that leads to an arrest could be eligible for a cash reward.