Niles police are working to identify the people or person responsible for damaging up to nine cars in the city last week.

Officers received calls of the damage between 4 and 5 a.m. March 6, said Niles Police Chief James Millin.
Cars were damaged along Regent Street, near 17th and Hickory, Sixth and Wayne, as well as in Niles Township, including the Oak Manor neighborhood. There were also similar damages reported in Indiana, authorities said.
Police suspect that the vandalism reports are all related, due to the time frame and similarity of the damages.
There are several unknowns in the crimes, including how many people contributed to the damages and what weapon was used.
Authorities spent the early morning hours of March 6 searching the area where damages occurred for evidence, Millin said.
“There is evidence left behind either from the object used, to people dropping things to people having seen things and we follow up on what leads we have,” Millin said.
One Niles resident who said her Ford Taurus was damaged is hoping police can get to the bottom of it.
Kellie Christie-Wetmore had parked her car on Lincoln Avenue on March 5. Around midnight, she said she heard what sounded like a car peeling away and tires screeching, but she did not look into the noise further.
The next day she found that someone had busted in the driver’s side window and damaged the tail light of her car, she said.
“It was a horrible mess,” Christie-Wetmore said Saturday. “I’m still cleaning glass out of my car.”
Christie-Wetmore suspects that a baseball bat had been used to create the damage, but authorities cannot confirm this.
The vandals did not steal anything from the car, but cost the resident her time and money.
Based on individual reports of filed damages, Millin approximated that the individual resident would have to pay up to $250 for each window that was broken.
Millin said if caught, the perpetrator(s) would be charged with malicious destruction of property. Based on the dollar amount and scope of the damage, the crimes could be a felony, he said. The culprits would also have to pay restitution for the damages in addition to other fines and costs.
While suspects have not yet been identified, Millin said he remains optimistic.
“Oftentimes we are able to identify them eventually,” he said.
Anyone with tips or evidence is asked to contact the Niles City Police Department or utilize the anonymous tip line at http://ci.niles.mi.us/DeptsAndServices/PoliceDept/SubmitATip.htm.