Four arrested for cemetery vandalism

Last Update: 10/22 11:17 am

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Eugene (KMTR) - Vandalism done to a Lane County cemetery earlier this month has landed three men and a woman in jail. They are facing charges of theft, criminal mischief, trespassing, abuse of a memorial for the dead and tampering with evidence.

Volunteers cleaning up the Luper Pioneer Cemetery in north Eugene earlier this month found headstones overturned, and broken.

Investigators say media coverage prompted a number of tips from the public which led to two stolen headstones and information on the people who police say are responsible.

The men arrested were Jay Allan Wabel, 18, and Joseph Christopher Bangs, 19, both of Castle Rock, Washington, and Matthew Scott Perritt, 18, of Eugene. They were arrested in the Roseburg area Wednesday. The woman, Katie Marie Dezeeuw, 18, was arrested at her home in Eugene.

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crazeedav - 10/27/2009 6:18 PM

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tree503: just a MISTAKE? A mistake is something like forgetting to sign a check, a typo ,or forgetting to set your clock back...vandalism is never a mistake...they knew full well what they were doing was wrong...that does not define a mistake in my book...I stand by my previous comment, and will add that as young men their acts were digusting, hateful, and unforgivable...Dave

tree503 - 10/26/2009 2:01 PM

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These four young adults shouldnt be in jail, just a few weeks, and some probation and community service will do. But poeple also has to see that they made a mistake and they still have their whole lives ahead of them. I hope this opens their eyes and see how they messed up up here and they still have friends that are there for them.

crazeedav - 10/24/2009 10:20 PM

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wmo50388 :please read dillybar if you have not...these criminals are not kids. You are obviously not one of the victims in this matter or I am sure you would be singing a different tune right now. these MEN have violated a sacred ground and all you have to say is basically boys will be boys? you should be ashamed to even present your opinion on here. minor offence my @ss! make these guys attend the funerals of 50...dig their graves...and set the headstones, THEN THEY WILL HAVE PAID THEIR DUES.

WM050388 - 10/23/2009 6:22 AM

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I hope these kids come out of this for the better. What they did was very wrong, but it is not something that they should pay for for the rest of their lives. A couple of weeks in jail, a few years of probation, restitution, and lots of community service to be served doing cemetary cleanup and beautification around the city should suffice in my opinion. A felony is definitely not in order. When you get a felony you lose specific rights FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. Unless it is a class C felony, then you MIGHT be able to get it expunged in a decade or so if you can manage to get through all of the governments red tape. A serious misdemeanor is in order for these charges in my opinion.

dorpor - 10/22/2009 11:47 PM

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I'm so glad they have jailed 4 of these people. I hope they are prosecuted to fullest extent of the law. I want to make a comment about the picture that accompanies this article. It does not at all appear to be of Luper Cemetery. If you must use a stock photo of something, it seems to me it would be more professional to identify it as a stock photo of "_______" Cemetery. To do otherwise is misleading.

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