AMERICAN FORK, Utah — A family was startled early Sunday morning after vandals shattered a window with one of their own holiday decorations.
The incident was caught by surveillance cameras.
The video shows two people get out of a car around 2:30 a.m. and smash some pumpkins on the ground. Before they take off, one of the vandals grabs a pumpkin and throws it at the window.
“We were looking at a movie and then we hear a big noise,” said Esma Gregorio, the homeowner. “Everything in the living room was full of glass. It was awful. I’m so glad we weren’t looking at a scary movie because it would have been worse.”
She and her husband, both students at Utah Valley University, spent the night cleaning up the mess because they didn't want their kids getting hurt by the glass.
Gregorio is unsure why the vandals only targeted the home where she lives with her family, including four young children ages 2-8.
Several other homes on the block have holiday decorations outside, but those displays were untouched.
"We are pretty friendly people. We don't have trouble with anybody," Gregorio said.
She said the vandalism has shaken her children.
"My daughter is so sad because that happened. You know, kids love pumpkins," Gregorio said. “She was like, ‘Mom, what if they come back and do another thing with the pumpkin?’”
“They not only broke the window, the broke my calm — the quiet of my house," she added. "And it's wintertime! It happens the first time we have a little bit of snow coming down. It was so cold, we had to cover it. That's the worst thing I worry about."
American Fork Police say acts of vandalism involving pumpkins are common in October. However, they don’t often elevate to this level of property damage.
Anyone with any information is urged to contact investigators with the American Fork Police Department.
