SPOKANE, Wash — A festive Halloween display that has become a fixture on the South Hill was vandalized overnight, prompting the homeowners to ask the community for help identifying the suspect.
James Meeker’s elaborate yard decorations off South Ray Street were damaged when someone jumped the fence, knocked over two decorations and ran away. Ring camera footage captured the incident, showing a person Meeker believes was a teenager or young adult.
“I don’t want to be angry at the kid,” Meeker said. “I’m more saddened at the fact that it happened.”
Meeker and his wife spend months every year putting the decorations up. The couple posted the surveillance video on social media in hopes that someone in the community might recognize the person responsible for the vandalism.
The vandalism damaged the fence and both decorations. Meeker thinks he can repair one of them, but the other may be beyond recovery.
Those decorations cost several hundred dollars each.
But for Meeker, the impact extends beyond the financial loss. He wants the person responsible to understand the broader consequences of their actions.
“I’d just like the kid to know what he’s done, the damage he’s done, the hurt he’s done to just the whole community itself that enjoys our decorations and are now spending their time trying to find him,” Meeker said.
The display has become more than just a personal project — it’s a community tradition.
“Really, it’s the community that keeps us going and keeps us doing it,” Meeker said. “And every Halloween, we get to sort of watch the kids grow up year after year that come back every year.”
This is not the first time the property has been targeted. Last year, their camera caught someone attempting to steal decorations from the display. Like the previous incident, Meeker has filed a Crime Check report with the police.
According to the Spokane Police Department, if the person in the video is identified, they could face second- or third-degree malicious mischief charges, which are felonies.
Despite the setback, Meeker remains committed to keeping the tradition alive.
“This hurts, but we’ll still be out here on Halloween, we’re gonna still keep the decorations going, we’re still keeping everything up,” Meeker said.
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