Article Courtesy of The Mimi
Herald
By MICAELA HOOD
Published September 30, 2007
When vandals scrawled profanities on the windshield
of a Miami Beach condo resident's car, it raised questions for some of her
neighbors: Was it a random criminal act, or was she a target?
On a recent Friday, Eliane Siegal parked her minivan
in the garage of the Nine Island Avenue condominium on Belle Isle, the
easternmost of the Venetian Islands.
The next morning, as she approached her vehicle, she
saw vulgar words smeared across the windshield in chalk.
A car's windshield wiper also was broken.
The police report states Siegal parked her car in
the garage around 5:30 p.m. Sept. 14. She called police at about 9 a.m.
the next morning.
Around midnight, a security guard noticed the
vandalized car and notified the building's manager, but Siegal was not
notified immediately because of the late hour, said condo association
president Gretchen Marshall.
Siegal would not comment.
The garage has a security camera, but it was not
pointed at her car, according to a resident who parks nearby.
''It's unsettling,'' David Rosen said.
According to the police report, Siegal told officers
that her husband sits on the board of the 274-unit building's association,
and she suspects this could have triggered the vandalism.
One condo resident said the act was likely
deliberate because access to the parking area is so restricted.
''They have raised concerns in meetings that money
is missing,'' Adonis Maiquez said.
Marshall, who has served on the board for three
years, said she's also been targeted by vandals.
''I've had people write stuff on my mailbox. It's
the price you pay when you sit on the board,'' she said. "You're
bound to make someone unhappy.''
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