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Teens charged with vandalism at St. Charles facilities

Brian Nail was stunned when he opened the Campton United Soccer Club's administrative office Saturday afternoon to prepare for a meeting.

Computers were broken. The telephone system was smashed. A lightning detector system had been destroyed. The walls were carved up. Liquids had been poured on everything, and into a printer.

And a chemical fire extinguisher had been sprayed all over the place.

“They just did pure vandalism,” said Nail, the club's director of soccer.

Monday, St. Charles police said they arrested the three young men they believe are responsible for tearing up that building, and another building at the Otter Cove Water Park, in James O. Breen Park. The park is at Campton Hills and Peck roads.

Kyle J. Wandle, Nicholas P. Zamecnik and William J. Donlevy are charged with felony-level criminal damage to property and burglary.

Police say the three broke in around 3 a.m. Saturday and broke doors, windows, computer monitors, printers, refrigerators and more. A surveillance video released by police shows a man trying to pry open some sort of drawer in the Otter Cove office, another throwing computer equipment, and a third breaking a window.

Campton United shares a building with the Tri-Cities Soccer Association and the Tri-City Chargers Football Association.

“Quite honestly, we got the least of it,” said Joe Ninni, the football league's president.

The league has a storage room in the basement. A wire gate was cut. Every bottle of soda and Gatorade stored there was poured over concession supplies and football equipment, including tackling blocks, Ninni said. They are ordering special chemicals to clean the sticky mess off the vinyl padding of the blocks.

More worrisome is the potential extent of damage to two Gator transport vehicles. An unknown liquid was poured in their gasoline tanks. The cost to repair will depend on whether the vandals started the engines, Ninni said.

Campton United's administrative offices were closed Monday and Tuesday, because officials did not want employees breathing in the remnants of the fire extinguisher chemicals. It is meeting with insurance adjusters.

“There is a lot of stuff that just has to go,” Nail said. “The level of damage is just beyond what anybody can imagine.”

The league has more than 600 players, drawing them from 24 high schools.

Wandle, 19, lives on the 4N800 block of East Mary Drive, St. Charles. Zamecnik, 18, lives on the 41W400 block of Forest Lane, Elburn. Donlevy, 18, lives on the 4N700 block of Chaffield Drive, St. Charles. All three are free on bail.

Holly Cabel, parks and recreation manager for the park district, said district officials are meeting with insurance adjusters to determine the cost of fixing the damage and replacing items. She estimated it is in the “tens of thousands” of dollars.

William Donlevy
Kyle Wandle
Nicholas Zamecnik
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