Tulsa Daycare Vans Damaged By Group Of Vandals

A Tulsa daycare said it's struggling after a group of vandals damaged two of the vans used to pick up and drop off kids. The daycare said it’s a frustrating setback.

They said a group of four young men showed up at the business late Saturday night, leaving a lot of damage behind.

Surveillance video shows the group arriving at Sister D's Playhouse and Learning Center around one in the morning.

"They busted up the windows, dented it up in a couple of places," said Tina Turner.

She said the vandals also broke the steering column on both vans because she thinks they were trying to steal them. Turner said she needs these vans every day to pick up and drop off kids.

"To come in Monday morning for work and you can't go anywhere, I start picking up children at six o'clock," Turner said.

Now she's using her personal car to get the kids where they need to be.

"I take home at least 20 kids at the end of the day and to keep coming back and forth with the way gas is, you know how many trips that's going to be in this little van," said Turner.

Officer Danny Bean with Tulsa Police said it's not uncommon to see crimes like this increase during the summer.

"Summertime is definitely one of those ones where property crimes, vandalism, things like this do go up and kind of go back down at the end of the summer when kids go back to school or when they're supervised," said Officer Bean.

Officer Bean said car alarms can help, and parking your vehicles in a garage is obviously best.

"If you can't, maybe park it in a well-lit area. That seems to help quite a bit," said Bean.

Turner said it's sad the daycare and families are having to deal with this, but she's glad no one got hurt.

"Get some help, find something positive to do ... because this is not the answer," Turner said.

TPD said if you recognize any of the people in the video, call Crimestoppers at 918-596-COPS.