Reward offered in Clayton vandalism

Police on Monday offered a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of people who vandalized the site for a new community center.

Investigators said they believe those responsible broke into a construction trailer on the site, at 715 Amelia Church Road, late Saturday afternoon and managed to start up some heavy equipment, including a bulldozer. Using the heavy equipment, they damaged the buildings under construction, a large quantity of building materials and other equipment.

“The damage at the work site is significant, but dollar estimates on the damage aren’t available yet,” Chief Glen Allen said in a statement. “We’re aggressively pursuing this senseless act of vandalism, and we’re asking the community to help us out by providing any information they might have, no matter how insignificant they might believe it to be.”

Town Manager Steve Biggs said the vandalism likely would delay the expected spring opening of the $6 million community center. The contractor hasn't evaluated the damage enough to know how much the project has been set back, he said.

The 30,000-square-foot center will have classrooms, a child-care center and a gymnasium and a lighted outdoor patio suitable for events and receptions. It will also be the new home of the Parks & Recreation Department.

“It’s unimaginable what motivates individuals to do something so senseless,” Biggs said in the statement. “I feel confident we’ll receive information from the community that will lead us to an arrest.”

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Clayton Police Department Detective Andy Jernigan at 919-553-1599 or 919-553-4611.