Suspect denies connection to SUV vandalism

The suspect arrested in connection with the rash of SUV vandalism over the weekend denies any involvement. Police linked the suspect to only one case of vandalism out of the 40 committed in the city and on campus Friday and Saturday. \nHe said he was jumped by two men while walking home from a bar and has been mistakenly accused.\nThe Bloomington Police Department has had more than 60 reports of vandalism to sport utility vehicles and other high-end cars such as BMWs since the beginning of September. Bloomington Police Capt. Joe Qualters said the apparently related cases involve slashed tires and defacement with spray paint.\nMost of the vandalism took place between Eighth and 11th Streets and Grant Street and Park Avenue, Qualters said. The police have beefed up their nightly patrols in those and other neighborhoods.\nOn campus, much of the vandalism took place along the Seventh Street corridor, IU Police Department Sgt. Chad Bennett said.\nA handful of luxury cars have been defaced, but police say the vandals have targeted mostly SUVs. While some victims believe it is a political statement made by radical environmentalists, Qualters said police don't have enough evidence to support such a conclusion. \nAn investigation continues, but police have only made one arrest in connection with the rash of vandalism.\nAccording to the police report, two men -- whose names the police cannot disclose -- spotted a man kneeling down by a hissing tire at the corner of 11th and Grant Streets early Sunday morning. The report said the two men called out to the suspect and he took off running.\nThey detained the suspect after a struggle, the police report said. According to the report, both the suspect and one of the men were injured in the scuffle.\nOfficers then arrived on the scene and made an arrest at 4:06 a.m., according to the report. The officers reported noticing paint on the suspect's jacket, which Qualters said has been taken to the lab for testing.\nAfter searching the suspect and the surrounding area, the officers reported that they could not locate the sharp object the man allegedly used in the act of vandalism. The suspect was taken briefly to the hospital for X-rays and then to the police station for questioning. \nMussie F. Debessay, of 406 E. 11th St., a 27-year-old graduate student, faces a preliminary charge of criminal mischief, a class D felony. He was bonded out of the Monroe County Correctional Facility Sunday afternoon on $500 cash bail and $2,000 surety, a prison spokesman said.\nVandalism cases totaling more than $2,500 in damages result in the felony charge, Qualters said. \nWhen contacted by an IDS reporter Sunday evening, Debessay declined to comment before he could speak with an attorney. He has since decided to come forward with his version of Sunday's events. \n"I have been unable to leave the house," said Debessay, a international student from East Africa who has only been in the country two years. "I would never do illegal things, stupid things."\nDebassay said he had been returning home from a bar when he was accosted by two men while taking a shortcut through an alley near his apartment complex. He said the men asked him what he was doing there and then assaulted him.\n"They beat me bad for some time," he said. "I was trying to escape, to run away. I didn't want to go back to my house because it was very close and they would try to follow me."\nDebassay said he was dragged to a nearby house, where the men kept him on the porch until the police arrived. He said he didn't know why he was arrested until he was released from jail. \nDebassay's face is badly bruised and scraped, and all of his front teeth are chipped. His lips were still swollen Wednesday evening; his left eye still severely blood-shot. \n"The police just accepted what they said," he said. "They should investigate those men to know what happened."\nA master's student in education, Debassay said he has been unable to attend classes or work for the past week. He said his only hope is that his name is cleared.\nThe police are conducting an investigation into the rash of vandalism. Qualters urged anyone who observes suspicious behavior to call the Bloomington Police Department at 339-4477.