UPDATE: 18 Year Old Charged After Vandalizing The Duluth Transportation Center

Originally, this blog was my reaction and disbelief to a news story I read from WDIO.com.   I had to ask the question, WHY?  Why did this man feel he had the right to destroy something that does not belong to him.   The fact that he has been caught, charged and bail set, doesn't answer my question of why, but at least justice is being served.

UPDATE:  For months I have been blogging the progress of the Duluth Transportation Center thanks to the efforts of Heath Hickok, the DTA Marketing Director.  We have literally watched the transformation before our eyes and excitement has been mounting to the upcoming grand opening next month.

Then 18 year old Wesly Kleveter decides to cause more than $63,000 dollars in damage to the facility in a four hour crime spree.  Thank goodness the DTA's security cameras were already working, they caught him in the act.   He tried damaging the cameras but they continued working and recorded the extensive damage he caused.  The senseless acts of smashing computers, sledgehammering the drywall, defacing the inside of the elevator and even twisting metal supports.  Malicious!  According to an updated story from WDIO.com he had just been released from the Arrowhead Juvenile Corrections Center for a prior burglary office, just 11 days before.  When they found Kleveter he was wearing a construction vest and carrying two bags. One bag contained two shotguns, the other had latex gloves, koolaid, phone chargers, a bag of change and lighters.  He also had a knife in his boot that had been stolen earlier in the evening and had been reported from the parking lot.  His bail has been set at $50,000.

It makes me so angry that we work so hard to keep up with technology, keep the things we own nice and somebody comes along with nothing better to do than to destroy it and for no good reason.  As a community we should feel violated!  The DTA staff is handling it well and said while it's a setback, they plan to restore order and be ready for the grand opening on February 4.

Please don't let this incident scare you.  When the facility does open it will be a safe area.  The fact that it's still under construction made it easier for this guy to get in and do damage undetected for a length of time.

This crime is so unnecessary and wrong and leaves me shaking my head as to why, why, why!

Info via: WDIO.com and DTA