Reward Offered for Information Leading Squad Car Vandal

HERMANTOWN - Local police are asking for the public’s help finding a vandal who caused thousands of dollars in damage to police squad cars. Hermantown's police chief is calling a recent vandalism case a senseless crime and now it's costing tax payers thousands to fix."To me it's very frustrating to have somebody do this," said Hermantown Police Chief Jim Crace. "Vandalism - there's nothing to gain out of it other than maybe a thrill." The incident happened last weekend during the Saturday night street dance in Proctor. Police were away from their squads when someone came by and keyed eight police cars. Proctor and St. Louis County squads were involved in the incident. Two of those eight squads belonged to Hermantown Police. Key marks line the doors of the 2013 SUV's. Chief Crace says the scratches are too deep to buff out so they have to send the cars in to be re-painted. The damage is expected to cost the department about $2,000. "We try to keep nice equipment for our officers and good looking equipment for the public and things like this happen,” Crace said. “It's you and I that suffer because we have to pay to repair it."The chief described this situation as frustrating because it's not the individual officer that suffers, it's the tax payers. Police have asked for the community's help in bringing the person who did this to justice. Vandalizing a police car is a felony and could come with a hefty fine and possibly jail time. Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact police. If the information does lead to an arrest, police may be offering a small reward.