Door-to-door police work turns up neighborhood man responsible
for crime
A 33-year-old Morgan Hill man was arrested Thursday night in connection with extensive vandalism to the Mount Hope Cemetery last week.
Justin W. Cregar, a resident of Barnell Avenue, which is in the neighborhood of the cemetery, was booked into county jail on felony vandalism charges. He was still being held Friday on $10,000 bail.
The cemetery is located on Spring Avenue between Monterey Road and DeWitt Avenue, north and west of the post office.
“He apologized,” Morgan Hill Police Lt. Joe Sampson said Friday. “He said he was very sorry.”
Extensive vandalism occurred on Feb. 4: graffiti was sprayed on headstones and on statues, and many markers and figures on markers were broken or damaged.
MHPD Officer Melinda Zen investigated the incident, the most severe of three separate incidents mostly defacing the older part of the cemetery, and developed leads after receiving a tip from a citizen.
The citizen gave a possible description of a suspect and an address on Barnell Avenue. MHPD Officer Kevin Beilmann followed up the tip, knocking on neighborhood doors and talking with residents.
When Beilmann arrived at Cregar’s residence, Cregar admitted to being involved in the vandalism and also told Beilmann there were other participants, a group of 18- to 20-year-olds “who were partying in the cemetery at the time and participated,” Sampson said.
The investigation is continuing, and officers hope to identify the remaining vandals.
Sampson commended the department for the rapid resolution of the case.
“The officers knew it was important to the community,” said Sampson. “They felt bad that this had happened and wanted to help make it right by apprehending the people who did this.”
Many old Morgan Hill families are buried at Mount Hope Cemetery, including the Jackson sisters, Gladys and Ruth; Telfers and Skeels, former Chief of Police John Moreno, and Morgan Hill’s heroine, Isola Kennedy, who died after fighting off a rabid mountain lion that had attacked a student of hers in 1909.
“We’ll continue to ‘shake the bushes,’ so to speak,” Sampson said. “We’ll continue following leads and talking to people until we can bring the others in.”
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at md****@*************es.com or phoning (408)779-4106 Ext. 202.
