DATE: Thursday, June 5, 1997                TAG: 9706050464

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   65 lines

$30,000 IN DAMAGES AT WORK SITE LINKED TO ``ANTI-GROWTH'' FORCES

Police suspect anti-growth activists of inflicting $30,000 in damage to a Deep Creek construction site Tuesday morning.

The incident was the latest of several destructive acts at construction sites in fast-growing Chesapeake, where development is often a contentious issue. Police spokesman Dave Hughes said police do not believe the incidents are related.

Someone disabled five pieces of heavy machinery at the New Mill Landing construction site on Cedar Road sometime after midnight, Hughes said. The vandals left a calling card of sorts: pro-environment, anti-development graffiti spray-painted on the equipment.

Among the messages on the equipment: ``your project sucks,'' ``earth liberation,'' ``no construction promise,'' ``stop progress,'' and ``stop slash and burn,'' Hughes said.

Police suspect the New Mill Landing vandalism to be the work of a fairly sophisticated group, Hughes said. The damage was far too extensive to be the work of youths, he said.

``Juveniles, when they attack a construction site, typically break out windows with rocks,'' Hughes said. ``But they weren't just there to slash tires. These people came to do damage, and they clearly brought a lot of tools with them.''

The vandals cut fuel lines, hydraulic lines and heavy metal wires that are nearly two inches thick, said Gary Spruill, site superintendent for Vico Construction Co., which owns the equipment, Spruill said.

Cutting those lines couldn't be done without a bolt cutter, which costs at least $80, he said.

Vandals also emptied the engine of oil, transmission fluid and brake fluid, then refilled those containers with sand and dirt. Spruill estimates that the vandals emptied at least $300 worth of motor oil. The vandals cut a hole in a dense metal grille in order to get into the engine area.

``They knew what to do,'' Spruill said.

Damaged machinery included a front-end loader, an excavator, a bulldozer and two earth movers, Hughes said.

Police found two sets of footprints at the site, Hughes said.

``What we're concerned about is if this is a group who's intent on making a name for themselves by trying to slow development, that it doesn't continue and show up at other sites,'' Hughes said.

``The graffiti indicates these are people who are against development.''

Felony vandalism carries a penalty of one to five years in prison, Hughes said.

Vandals broke into an empty model home on the site three months ago, but left no graffiti, said Jules Wilson, an agent for Centex Homes, which owns the model. They punched through the drywall and smashed counter tops, setting back the construction of the house by about a week, she said. That damage amounted to roughly $3,000.

Wilson said she doubts a ``serial ecologist'' was behind the more recent damage, however.

``They wrote `Tree Killer' on one of the trucks, but there were never any trees on this property,'' Wilson said.

``I would think this might be a disgruntled employee with an ax to grind against Vico Construction. If you think about it, only someone who knows that equipment would be able to disable it.''

Vico Construction is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the vandals, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Self. Police request that anyone with information about the vandalism contact the Chesapeake Crime Line at 487-1234. KEYWORDS: VANDALISM

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