Business owner reports vandalism on the rise

WARWICK - Cedric Glasper, president of Mechanical Rubber Products, has been reluctant to fence-in the company’s large property on Forester Avenue in Warwick or to install video surveillance equipment. However, the most recent act of vandalism is causing him to change his mind. “My property is well-lighted at night, the police patrol it and I even stop by after hours and weekends,” said Glasper. “But this past year has been a horror story.” The most recent act of vandalism and one that upset Glasper personally occurred sometime between Friday, Dec. 1, and early Monday morning, Dec. 4. That’s when one or more vandals removed the cover from a classic 1964 Lincoln Continental that Glasper is planning to restore and then fired rocks through the windshield. About a month ago, the driver’s window was smashed. Beginning earlier this year, a series of other serious acts of vandalism, including breaking through the roof of the industrial building, tossing rocks through numerous windows and even a break-in and entry have been reported to the Warwick Police Department. Veterans Memorial Park sits directly behind Mechanical Rubber and although the park has a well-designed skateboard park, Glasper has often arrived on a Monday morning to discover the wooden pallets and loading platform have been used for the same purpose. He has also discovered empty beer cans and evidence that the area is sometimes used as a “lover’s lane.” Glasper, a longtime business owner, believes the area is changing for the worse, and that too many parents are not around or are allowing their children to stay out at all hours of the night without any adult supervision. “I don’t want to cause a serious problem for someone’s child,” he said, “but I will pay a substantial reward to find out information about the person or persons who are doing this so that it won’t happen again.” Glasper asks anyone who has this information to call the Warwick Police Department at 986-3423 and his office at 986-2271.