Posted on 05/02/2008 8:38:54 AM PDT by Puppage
Danbury (AP) -- Danbury police say they've arrested four Ridgefield teens after a video of six teens vandalizing a 112-year-old mansion turned up on the Internet.
Police say the teens allegedly vandalized Hearthstone Castle and then posted the video of it on YouTube as well as a Web site created for bored Ridgefield children.
A Danbury detective has used the video to charge three 17-year-olds and an 18-year-old with third-degree criminal mischief and second-degree criminal trespass.
The video shows a group kicking in rotten floorboards inside the 112-year-old former residence in Tarrywile Park, which was purchased by the city in 1985.
The video shows two teens urinating inside the castle and using a hammer to destroy a wall.
Looks like the city is doin’ a great job caring for this place!
I used to know Ridgefield pretty well. It’s turned into a typical Fairfield County suburb, with McMansions having sprouted all over the place.
Danbury is one of the smaller and pleasanter inner cities that spot Fairfield County—poorer, with a minority population, but still not a bad place to live or visit.
As it says, probably spoiled suburban teenagers with nothing better to do.
“Police say the teens allegedly vandalized Hearthstone Castle and then posted the video of it on YouTube as well as a Web site created for bored Ridgefield children.”
And the Darwin award goes to...
There’s nothing wrong with keeping historical ruins. As I child, I often travelled in Europe and visited old ruins of castles. Lots of fun and provides a good sense of history. We’ve got this weird mentality in the US that every building either has to be kept completely habitable or razed. It’s really okay to just let historic buildings sit there and accumulate the natural effects of time.
Me too - grew up and went to high school there when it was still rural. And I agree with you - bored kids and an abandoned castle - what did the town think was going to happen? Doesn't excuse their actions, of course. (They should have been painting RHS on the Wilton fieldhouse or jumping off Chicken Rock, like we did!)
“Danbury is one of the smaller and pleasanter inner cities that spot Fairfield County—poorer, with a minority population, but still not a bad place to live or visit.”
You haven’t been to Danbury in 20 years, I’ll reckon.
What was called “the best city in America” back around 1985 (Money magazine survey) has degenerated into a cesspool of illegal immigration.
The house right next to me was tripled in size, all the ground paved over, and is now a “Mexican hotel”.
This is a good place to _get out of_ these days. Hopefully, that’s in my future.
- John
Well, I haven’t been there in 10 years, except to visit someone in Danbury Hospital.
Some of my kids used to play travel soccer when we were in Ridgefield. Occasionally we would play Danbury. They were tough kids, but decent enough. There was a black drug and criminal problem, as in Connecticut’s other inner cities, but not yet a hispanic gang problem.
Also, I was speaking comparatively. Danbury was still a lot more liveable and pleasanter than cities like New Haven or Hartford or Bridgeport. But presumably the city budget is too tight to spend money keeping up an old castle.
When we were there Ridgefield was halfway between the lovely New England town it used to be and the suburb of NYC and Stamford that it is now.
True. But in this case, it depends on the city’s intention when the bought the house.
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