Three Harvard juveniles who are accused of vandalizing the town beach earlier this month have been criminally summoned to Worcester Juvenile Court on a count of vandalism, according to Sgt. James Babu of the Harvard Police Department. As of Wednesday this week, the hearing had not been scheduled.
According to a police incident report, the vandalism occurred at about 2 a.m. on Aug. 8, when the youths dragged a port-a-potty into the pond and tipped it over, damaged a new sign and a bicycle, and attempted to tamper with boats. The damage was discovered later that morning by Parks and Recreation Director Bob O’Shea, and police responded at 6:15 a.m.
The incident was recorded by security cameras, which resulted in the alleged vandals being identified within days.
Babu reported to the scene and documented the damage. He wrote in his report that a port-a-potty had been dragged from the side of the beach house down the beach and tipped on its side in the water about 10 feet from shore. A newly installed sign posted near the boat launch ramp had been ripped out of the ground and lay nearby. A bicycle had also been thrown into the water about 10 feet from the port-a-potty.
Department of Public Works Foreman Ron Gilbert said that his department was called to the scene at 6:30 that morning. A crew used a forklift to remove the port-a-potty from the water. They also retrieved the sign that had been ripped down and later returned to replace it. Gilbert said that the port-a-potty had been removed from the water by 7:30 a.m.
A segment of the security footage showing the incident was posted on the Harvard Police Department’s Facebook page in a post asking the community to help identify the vandals. In it, three figures who appear to be teenage males can be seen removing a sign from the ground and attempting to pull boats from the rack where they were secured. According to the post, a second vandalism attempt occurred the following night but, by then, items had been secured or made otherwise inaccessible.
Sanitarian Ira Grossman of the Nashoba Associated Boards of Health took a sample of the water to be tested for coliform bacteria, which could indicate the presence of feces in the water, and reported on Aug. 12 that the coliform count was 4. According to Grossman, the coliform limit for a swimming area is 235.
Two days after the incident, there was a general sense of disappointment about the vandalism among families at the pond. Many were opting out of swimming or playing in the water until test results could confirm its safety, but beach staff were making no specific advisories about what activities were safe.
Hannah Taylor contributed to this story.
