FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) — A vandal hit several businesses, a church and a family home in Farmington Hills, leaving behind destructive, bigoted and hateful messages.
Charles Hill pulled out the power washer and cleaning supplies on Tuesday, and he’s been scrubbing ever since.
“I’m gonna need a new toothbrush. That’s for sure," he told 7 News Detroit.
Someone spray-painted the N-word, followed by the word “Time” on his fence. He said it happened around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The act was captured on a neighbor's surveillance camera.
In the video, you can see the suspect ride up on a bicycle toward the intersection of Tulane and Liberty streets and then vandalize the fence.
"I was pretty shocked. It’s disheartening, ya know. It’s not something you wanna come home to," Hill said. "It seemed like a random act of graffiti, vandalism."
Dale "Smitty" Smith said he and his wife woke up to the disturbing view right across the street.
“I looked out the bathroom window and I seen it," he said. “He’s been spraying two days out here. Trying to clean up the mess. Ya know? It’s ridiculous."
He said of the graffiti, “And I don’t understand it. What it meant, ya know.”
Neither do several business owners just up the road. They too were targeted by vandalism early Tuesday morning, including a 7-Eleven.
“It was very disturbing," 7-Eleven employee Stephanie Jackson said.
The culprit spray-painted more bigoted graffiti at the business, along with other messages nearby. On the outside of a neighboring church, they spray-painted a dollar sign. Behind a Chinese restaurant and a massage parlor they wrote a vulgar term targeting women. In that same parking lot, they wrote a politically disparaging remark mocking the president’s name.
“It’s a mixed neighborhood. It’s very peaceful here. We don’t need that stuff around here,” Jackson said.
As police investigate, members of this community have a direct message for the vandal.
“Get the hate out of your heart," she said.
Hill said, “Don’t do it again. Don’t mess with people’s stuff. It’s not cool, and be a nice person in general.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Farmington Hills police.
