News

Woman arrested in rash of vandalism

By Jessica Benson
Staff writer
Published: March 24, 2008

MANCHESTER — Police say a suspect in a rash of vandalism cases between Danvers and Gloucester added one last smashed window to the list: the one in the back of their police cruiser.

Police charged Veronica Johnson, 20, of 48 Balcomb St., Salem, with malicious destruction of property valued at more than $250 after they say she kicked out the cruiser window during her arrest in the wee hours of the morning Saturday. She is a suspect in cases of smashed car windows in both Danvers and Gloucester.

Just after 2 a.m., Manchester Patrolman Mark McCoy spotted a car on School Street matching a description given out by Danvers police, who were looking for the people responsible for using a baseball bat to smash windows and mailboxes in that town. McCoy pulled the car over, and, with help from Patrolman Matthew Donahue, soon had Johnson in custody.

Initially charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol and driving with a suspended license, Johnson fought with officers, spitting at patrolmen from Essex who were assisting with the arrest, police said. Police say she broke the window in the cruiser on her first kick, though she later told police that she didn't remember the incident.

One of Johnson's passengers, Daniel Cirinna, 17, of 16 River St., Danvers, was also arrested and charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol after police say they found two bottles of vodka in the car. A second passenger, Johnson's sister, Lisa Johnson, 21, was placed in protective custody and later released to her parents. Yesterday, however, police said they had decided to charge her with procuring alcohol for a minor.

Veronica Johnson was held on $540 cash bail, and remained in custody yesterday.

The trio are under investigation for the vandalism in Danvers; a baseball bat found in the car was taken as evidence by the Danvers police. They are also suspects in a rash of car vandalisms in Gloucester, according to Manchester police.

Gloucester police logged several complaints of cars that were broken into or had windows smashed overnight Friday. The reports came in from Burnham, Derby, Friend, Bray, Marchant and Perkins streets.

One witness on Perkins Street reported hearing a commotion outside around 2 a.m. Saturday, but didn't think much of it until later, when he found out that a Jeep parked at a neighbor's house ended up with three smashed windows.