Is there any possibility we have a case with this evidence? (Vandalism, New Jersey)

[worriedfather23]

I am a father of two girls. My youngest is 19 and has had a few nutty ex boyfriends. Yesterday morning I woke up and my car's front mirror and windshield were broken and the side was all dented up and there were some small rocks on the ground nearby. We had an officer come to the scene and take a report, but he didn't sound optimistic and recommended I contact my insurance company. My wife said she had seen one of our daughter's ex's driving around the neighborhood earlier that day. Can the small rocks be fingerprinted? Do we have any sort of case just from having seen the boy in our neighborhood? I am a little worried he will get off free and this will come out of my pocket. Is there anything I can do?

[Sgt. Slaughter]

The answer to every question you've asked is 'No" unfortunately. Not what you want to hear, but it's the truth.

[DCF]

At most, the police may question the subject. The subject denies any involvement and without further evidence there just isn't anything to go on. It would be more than reasonable to assume more than one person has driven around your neighborhood, other than the exboyfriend your wife saw. I would also be more than reasonable to assume many people had driven around your neighborhood that your wife did not see. Obviously, no one saw the person or persons that damaged your property. At best you have on small piece of circumstantial evidence. As the investigating officer stated, absent further evidence, contact your insurance company.

[Piggy]

Check or look around your neighorhood. Perhaps one of your neighbors has a camera that is pointed in your general direction.

You can also hook up a webcam system to your internet with external cameras fairly inexpensive. While it doesn't help with your car, it'll help prevent future problems. Or at least help you get the bad guy.

[scott715us]

Fingerprints are not happening from a rock. I doubt the PD would even pull those type of resources on a vandalism offense. Sorry to say, you're probably stuck with a deductible to get the damages fixed through insurance. If you think it might reoccur, think about some cheap cameras from radio shack or even a deer hunting camera that takes pictures when motion is detected.