Two charged in vandalism

Young men turn themselves into police after ransacking Cranbury mailboxes.

By: Matt Kirdahy
   Two men were charged with vandalism after they turned themselves in to police last week.
   Jean-Michael Francois, 19, of Washington Drive in Cranbury and Tyler Wood, 19, of Farrand Road in Princeton were charged with vandalism on May 23. Police Chief Harry Kleinkauf said eight mailboxes, some containing mail, were knocked over, broken apart and in some cases moved completely from the property and discarded several houses away on May 11.
   According to Chief Kleinkauf, the driver’s side window of a 1994 BMW that was parked on Washington Drive was smashed. The chief said no other vehicles were damaged. Police also said that any mail and the damaged mailboxes were returned to owners. The total damage was $1,800.
   Mr. Francois, a student at Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., and Mr. Wood, a student at Hofstra University in New York, were charged on May 23, nearly two weeks after the crime was reported, Chief Kleinkauf said.
   Chief Kleinkauf said a resident on Jackson Court, a block away from Washington Drive, called police at 3:30 a.m. on May 11 after spotting Mr. Francois and Mr. Wood trying to remove a street sign.
   By the time Patrol Officers Paul Lindenfeld and Ryan Dworzanski arrived at the scene, the damage had been done.
   Chief Kleinkauf said Officers Lindenfeld and Dworzanski spoke to residents and gleaned information during that two-week investigation period. Once they were certain who was responsible for the damages, the officers called Mr. Francois and Mr. Wood, who turned themselves in.
   The two were released on their own recognizance.
   Chief Kleinkauf said the crimes are unusual for Cranbury and is more likely to be seen in the township’s industrial side, East of Route 130.
   "This is not typical by any sense of the word," Chief Kleinkauf said. "We do not get much of this kind of stuff. I haven’t seen something like this in years. It came out of left field."