Eagan Family's Car Vandalized, Spray Painted With Racial Slurs
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Twin Cities family found their car vandalized yesterday morning, and covered with racial slurs.
It happened in a townhouse development just off Cliff Road in Eagan. Police say someone smashed out a window in Steve Wright's car; spray-painted racial slurs on the hood, trunk and windows; and then doused the car with gasoline. Several items were stolen from the car as well, including the title and part of the stereo.
"The 'N-word' is one thing, but when you see 'KKK,' it takes you to another place," Wright's wife, Juanisha, said. "It's gut-wrenching, fearful."
Wright says the sight of her husband's car covered with hateful words brought on a range of emotions Sunday morning.
"I'm walking around and I see this and I see they had the nerve to put a smiley face on it too," Wright said.
The Wrights have two sons and say they have lived in their current home for about 10 years without any problems.
"They spray-painted it, then busted it out and then poured gas in the car," Wright said. "That tells me they were on the way to try to burn it."
Eagan Police officer Lt. Duane Pike says the department isn't used to seeing a crime of this nature.
"It's very disappointing, especially in this day and age when everyone is so well aware," Lt. Pike said.
Eagan police say they have no witnesses or suspects, but they did find a piece of what was likely used to break the window.
"At this point, we are unable to find anything," Lt. Pike said. "We did find a piece of what we believe is a crow bar, a pry bar and we will be sending that to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for further processing."
Instead of immediately removing the spray paint, the Wrights have decided to leave it there for a while.
"I want everyone to know, and be aware of the ignorance that is still going on," Juanisha Wright said. "It's not even about getting the broken window fixed, it's about fixing the person who put that stuff on there."
Police say if they make an arrest, the vandal would face two felonies: one for damaging property, and another because it appears to be racially motivated.
