Accused car vandal blames 'stress' for destroying 89 car windows, mirrors

broken-window2-300×160PUYALLUP -- A Pierce county man told police investigators that he vandalized 89 car windows and mirrors  to relieve "stress."

 The accused car vandal, James Reynolds, 19, pleaded not guilty Thursday to seven counts of malicious mischief, The News Tribune reported.  Reynolds was one of three people who police believe used metal baseball bats to smash out car windows and side mirrors on 89 vehicles in Puyallup in November, the paper reported.

Reynolds' co-defendants,  Tyler Graham, 24,  and Nicole Simons, 22 failed to appear at the Thursday arraignment.  Puyallup police arrested them overnight and the two were scheduled to appear in court on Friday.  Police said that some some of the damaged cars were parked in downtown Puyallup, others were parked outside homes.  The vandals busiest night was on November 8th when 36 cars were smashed, the Tribune reported.

Police said that a tip led them to Simons and Graham.  Simons car reportedly had two baseball bats inside when police searched it, court documents show.  Simons allegedly admitted to vandalizing the windows on one truck because she thought the truck's owner had threatened her and her dog.  When told that the truck did not belong to that man, Simons reportedly asked police if she could write a letter of apology, the paper reported.

Bail for all three suspects was set at $50,000 each.  "This was senseless vandalism," said Pierce County prosecutor Mark Lindquist.  "Destroying property like this demonstrates the defendants' lack of respect for their own community."