Vandals Strike Harris Public Library Windows, Cause $700 In Damage

Assistant Library Director Kim Shipala gave video footage of vandals breaking into the Woonsocket Harris Public Library to Woonsocket Police today hoping it will lead them to the men who caused $700 in damage Sunday night.

Shipala said the break-in occurred at about 6:20 p.m. Sunday night, when she and Woonsocket Police were alerted by the building's alarm system.

The vandals threw rocks at the windows in the front of the building first, she said, but those bounced off the tempered glass there. Next, they threw rocks through a window in the Woonsocket Room meeting space and then threw rocks at the atrium area, breaking several windows there. 

The vandals entered the library through one of the broken windows in the atrium, and one of them entered the back reading area before the alarm scared him away, she said.

"It seemed like he was headed for our computer lab," Shipala said.

Members of the Woonsocket DPW showed up Sunday night to board up the broken windows. Since the city's deductible is $5,000, Shipala said, the library will have to pay for replacement windows, which won't be installed until Dec. 18. The repair money will come from the library's fines and fees fund.

Shipala said no one on the library staff recognized the two vandals.

Woonsocket Police Sgt. Matt Ryan said detectives are still working on the case, and are reviewing the video in hopes of making arrests.

Shipala said the library was already scheduled to be closed this weekend for Thanksgiving, but they will open for business as usual, as planned, Monday.