Ranchos residents upset over fence vandalism

Christy and Terry Thomas awoke one fine fall morning last week to discover that taggers had spray-painted their 85-foot wood fence that faces Scarselli Elementary School.

"I'm just irate," Christy Thomas said Sept. 11. "All morning the kindergartners walking to school have had to look at this."

Terry Thomas took the day off work to pressure wash the black writing, and the Thomases called the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.

"The brave souls signed their own work," he said. "We don't want to give them any glory."

Normally, the Thomases 13-year-old chow/German shepherd mix Poochie would have been on fence patrol. But Poochie has arthritis and the veterinarian recommended a night in the garage instead of sleeping outside.

"I'm sure he would have been out at the fence barking if he'd heard anything," Christy Thomas said.

"This is the first house we ever owned. My husband and kids and I built this fence, and now we walk out to this?"

Damage to the Thomases fence was one of three complaints in the Gardnerville Ranchos that day to which the sheriff's office responded.

Similar taggings were reported on Patricia Drive and Long Valley Road.

Deputies were able to make a shoe print from the Thomases' property.

"I've never seen anything on this scale," Christy Thomas said. "I left where I grew up in Torrance, Calif., because of problems like this. I wanted our kids to grow up in a better environment. It has to stop when it starts.

"I'm not going to let punks like this run me out of another home," she said.

Penalties for graffiti are proportionate to the value of property loss.

Damage less than $250 is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in Douglas County Jail.

Damage $250 to $5,000 is a gross misdemeanor with a jail term of up to one year.

If the damage exceeds $5,000 it is a felony punishable by one year in prison.

The court also may impose restitution and fines.