Prince George's County police are talking to witnesses and searching for video evidence after nearly 20 senior citizens got their cars smashed up over the weekend in Upper Marlboro.
Outside the Lodge at Marlton senior apartments on Crain Highway, car after car was vandalized.
"These are senior citizens here. We don't have anything of value in our cars," resident James Wright said. "All together it was like 17 cars."
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The vandalism caused thousands of dollars in overall damage. Some people had their cellphone chargers taken. Others had nothing stolen but were left with broken glass and shattered windows.
"I was parked in the shopping center and I just happened to walk around and see my car and the windows burst out and I’m like, 'Oh my goodness, what's going on?'" Wright said.
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The Lodge at Marlton houses seniors like Wright, who's retired from the Library of Congress.
“I'm so lucky to have been able to fix my car right away, but a lot of people here are on fixed incomes; they are not able to do that,” he said.
Cars were damaged in the apartment's parking lot and in the adjacent shopping center, where many residents park because there aren't enough spaces at the apartment building.
Residents said this wasn't previously a problem.
“I was comfortable. That's why I moved here. I was comfortable going in and out after it got dark,” another resident, Barbara Perry, said. “They didn't take anything, they just broke the window on the driver's side. I don't know if that's their entertainment."
Prince George’s County police are investigating the crime and asking anyone with information that can aid in the investigation to give them a call.
