A number of businesses in the downtown area have experienced a spate of vandalisms and burglaries within the past three months or so, wearying owners and the police alike.

Carolyn Xifaras, owner of Pink Cloud Beading Company on Donnelly Walk, e-mailed the Fairfield Citizen-News on April 22 to report her store's experience with vandalism. "The rate of vandalism in our little downtown area has gotten out of control," Xifaras wrote. "Last Wednesday, April 16th, I received a call from the Ffld. Police Department at 11:30 p.m. telling me that my store had been broken into and that I had to get there right away."

What the store owner found when she and her son arrived not too long after was a mess. Xifaras first noticed damage to the door along with a broken lock. It was when she entered the back room, where Xifaras hosts birthday parties and classes, that the extent of the vandalism was discovered. "There was broken glass from a wall print, dish detergent all over my walls and floor, a smashed ceramic vase, salad dressing thrown into my inventory closet, my computer tower and my file cabinets were abused and last but not least, one of these special intruders decided to defecate in one of my employees cosmetic bags, which they zipped back up and placed in her jewelry box," Xifaras wrote. "They also left me a note saying that they loved my bead store so much they decided to break in and signed off with a smiley face."

The following Monday, April 21, Xifaras received a phone

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call at 6:30 a.m. from the Police Department, calling her into her store because her business had been broken into yet again. "Nothing was damaged [except the door] and nothing was stolen," she noted. However, "That same night I was told that the Raveis Real Estate office on [28] Reef Road was also broken into, but nothing was taken. Andrew [Servetas], owner of Las Vetas, had the same thing happen to his store a couple of weeks ago."

Directly after both break-ins, Xifaras said, "My neighbor (Shay Chez) and I spoke with the building manager along with Detective [Peter] Bravo about putting surveillance cameras on the outside of the building facing the walkway...so we'll see. Hopefully it will happen."

Servetas was surprised when he found his back door broken down last month, expecting to find money or merchandise stolen. "It was way too easy to break in the back door. They did nothing. They just broke the door down, but it needed to be rebuilt."

Servetas considers this to be "a wake-up call" for himself and other Fairfield business owners. "Not that I thought Fairfield was sweet and safe," he said, but it made him question, "how easy is it?" Servetas is now in the process of setting up stronger precautions against potential break-ins. "I'm adding additional cameras on the outside that will be showing both back doors I'm not too worried." He believes the time has come for cameras on every street corner, nonetheless. "The technology is there," he said. To anyone thinking of vandalizing his café in the future, he has one message: "I dare you to try to come in here again."

According to Police Lt. Michael Walsh, these incidents of burglary by way of vandalism are "unusual." "Statutorily, burglary occurs generally when unauthorized entry is made into a building with the intent to commit a crime therein. Usually, the crime is some sort of theft. In the case of The Pink Cloud Beading Company, the crime was vandalism, and the business owner may have told you that there was writing, opened items, broken items, along with vandalism by way of defecation within the store. The second incident at this same business (4/20/08), there was a forcible entry but nothing apparently taken," he wrote in an e-mail to the Fairfield Citizen-News on May 1.

Since Feb. 2, when a vehicle was damaged at the Bank of America at 1366 Boston Post Road, the downtown area has seen at least eight incidents where vandalism was the primary goal of the offenders, none of whom have been identified or apprehended. A Bank of America's manager assured customers that an attendant oversees their parking area during business hours.

Walsh reported that Roadway at 63 Unquowa experienced similar vehicle damage to a driver's-side mirror on March 12; the Fairfield Center Building at 1499 Post Road reported stairwell graffiti on March 31; and Las Vetas at 1462 Post Road had a forcible entry incident overnight on April 14 during which nothing was taken. "The surrounding area has had some limited incidents not necessarily of the same theme," Walsh added.

"Again, a forcible entry as a means to vandalize the interior is quite unusual," Walsh said. "As far as entries where there is nothing taken, this would not necessarily mean there was no intent to commit larceny. I am aware of past incidents where individuals have made entry into businesses for shelter also. The entries into businesses are under investigation."