Vandals hit 47 vehicles in Petersburg

PETERSBURG -- Police say three North Carolina men used a .22-caliber gun, a 4-foot metal pole and rocks to smash the windows of more than 40 parked vehicles in an early-morning vandalism rampage.

No one was injured in the incident, which began early yesterday and ended with police arresting the men about 45 minutes later. Police said the men smashed the windows of 47 vehicles parked on 10 streets in the city's Walnut Hill neighborhood.

Police arrested Lemar Spencer, 26, of High Point; and Michael Lunsford, 26, and Kenneth Isley, 21, both of Greensboro.

The three have been charged with numerous destruction-of-property and firearm violations, police said. The men apparently were visiting one man's relatives in Petersburg. Police said the crimes were not gang-related.

Police spokeswoman Esther Hyatt said the vandalism began at 1:17 a.m. with reports of shots fired on Varina Avenue. Police found two vehicles with broken windows and received another report of people in a dark-colored sport utility vehicle breaking car windows on Brandon Avenue. Police caught up with the vehicle and arrested the men on Northampton Road, where a number of vehicles were damaged.

Hyatt said the men used the gun to shoot out the windows of two vehicles. After they ran out of bullets, they used rocks and a metal pole to smash rear and side windows in more than 40 parked vehicles on 10 streets, including Hampton Road, Matoax Avenue, Tuckahoe Street, Johnson Road, Oakridge Road, Berkeley Avenue and Westover Avenue, authorities said.

If residents discover that their vehicles were damaged, they should call the Petersburg police non-emergency number, (804) 732-4222, and get a case number that has been assigned to the incident, police said.

In the 700 block of Northampton, Dewayne Nichols awoke to find that the rear windows of his Toyota Prius and his wife's Ford Mustang had been smashed overnight.

Nichols said he was tired after returning from a wedding in Alabama and slept through the night without hearing anything but barking dogs.

He shook his head when told all three suspects are in their 20s. "I can understand a 16year-old and how it would be entertaining to a 16-year-old," he said, "but not a grown man."

Contact Michael Martz at (804) 649-6964 or .

Contact Joe Macenka at (804) 649-6804 or .