LI teenager grinch? what is wrong w/ people???
Bah! Humbug stings on L.I..
By RICHARD WEIR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Holi-dazed: William Grasso sizes up damaged ornaments.
Cops charged Brett Berrick, 17, in rampage.
Damage control: The Grassos hastily replaced destroyed decorations in front yard.
He's a Grinch on wheels.
A Long Island teenager was charged yesterday with using his car to rip up dozens of Christmas displays in front yards, leaving mangled Santas and broken hearts in his wake.
'He said running over the lawn ornaments is fun,' said Detective Sgt. Thomas Groneman. 'Some people spent days and weeks decorating their lawns, and in seconds he destroyed their hard work.'
The hit-and-run holiday hater was nabbed after a cop pulled over his mud-caked Oldsmobile and found stolen Santa and Frosty the Snowman ornaments stashed in the trunk, officials said.
Brett Berrick, 17, of Islip Terrace admitted starting his spree about three weeks ago - just as homeowners began decorating their front yards with plastic Nativity scenes and winter wonderlands, officials said.
Cruising in a battered orange Cutlass, Berrick allegedly drove up on the lawns and smashed through the displays.
The Yuletide mayhem built to a crescendo on Saturday night, after retiree William Grasso flipped the switch on the elaborate display he sets up every year in his Islip Terrace yard. Scores of neighborhood children turned out for an open house to get a first peek at the lawn crammed with handmade wooden penguins, angels and a blinking 5-foot Santa on his gift-laden sleigh.
A few hours later, Grasso's son, John Altenburg, awoke to the sound of screeching tires. A car 'was taking off with all the ornaments. The light posts were flying,' said Altenburg, 41. 'It was a war zone.'
The car left behind a 35-foot-long swath of chewed-up grass where 30 Christmas characters had stood. A plastic teddy bear Santa Claus was found crushed in the road a half mile away.
Suffolk County Police Officer Richard Gandolfo arrested Berrick the next day, after he spotted the teen driving a car that matched the description Altenburg provided. Berrick was charged with felony criminal mischief and faces up to four years in prison if convicted.
Neighbors were shocked. 'It was not like he ever said, 'Oh, I hate Christmas,'' said a teenage neighbor who goes to school with Berrick. 'Never.'
By RICHARD WEIR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Holi-dazed: William Grasso sizes up damaged ornaments.
Cops charged Brett Berrick, 17, in rampage.
Damage control: The Grassos hastily replaced destroyed decorations in front yard.
He's a Grinch on wheels.
A Long Island teenager was charged yesterday with using his car to rip up dozens of Christmas displays in front yards, leaving mangled Santas and broken hearts in his wake.
'He said running over the lawn ornaments is fun,' said Detective Sgt. Thomas Groneman. 'Some people spent days and weeks decorating their lawns, and in seconds he destroyed their hard work.'
The hit-and-run holiday hater was nabbed after a cop pulled over his mud-caked Oldsmobile and found stolen Santa and Frosty the Snowman ornaments stashed in the trunk, officials said.
Brett Berrick, 17, of Islip Terrace admitted starting his spree about three weeks ago - just as homeowners began decorating their front yards with plastic Nativity scenes and winter wonderlands, officials said.
Cruising in a battered orange Cutlass, Berrick allegedly drove up on the lawns and smashed through the displays.
The Yuletide mayhem built to a crescendo on Saturday night, after retiree William Grasso flipped the switch on the elaborate display he sets up every year in his Islip Terrace yard. Scores of neighborhood children turned out for an open house to get a first peek at the lawn crammed with handmade wooden penguins, angels and a blinking 5-foot Santa on his gift-laden sleigh.
A few hours later, Grasso's son, John Altenburg, awoke to the sound of screeching tires. A car 'was taking off with all the ornaments. The light posts were flying,' said Altenburg, 41. 'It was a war zone.'
The car left behind a 35-foot-long swath of chewed-up grass where 30 Christmas characters had stood. A plastic teddy bear Santa Claus was found crushed in the road a half mile away.
Suffolk County Police Officer Richard Gandolfo arrested Berrick the next day, after he spotted the teen driving a car that matched the description Altenburg provided. Berrick was charged with felony criminal mischief and faces up to four years in prison if convicted.
Neighbors were shocked. 'It was not like he ever said, 'Oh, I hate Christmas,'' said a teenage neighbor who goes to school with Berrick. 'Never.'
