Vandalism Causes Thousands In Damages To Stillwater Business

Stillwater Police are searching for the suspects that vandalized MPower over the weekend. Those suspects spent over three and a half hours in the MPower building, and left thousands of dollars in damages behind.

“Just senseless acts, just destruction for the sake of destruction,” said Pam Carpenter, with MPower. “We have a lot of broken windows, so for now they're just wooded up.”

Staff at MPower were woken up around 3 a.m. Sunday morning, after the entire building was vandalized. 

“Hit us personally and I think all the employees here at MPower feel like they've been violated,” said Carpenter.

The Stillwater Fire Department arrived at MPower Sunday morning after the fire alarm went off. When firefighters noticed the front door was already open, they called Stillwater Police.

“The front door to the building was propped open and it looked like someone had rummaged through some of the office spaces inside,” said Lieutenant TJ Low with Stillwater Police.

“Our officers arrived on scene and immediately began searching the facility,” said Lt. Low. “Every room was pretty much vandalized.”

MPower is a center for adults with developmental disabilities, like Pam’s son, Luke Carpenter.

“Today is his 34th birthday and he participates at the adult day services here at MPower,” said Carpenter. “He really truly doesn't want to be any other place.”

MPower offers vocational services, residential services, and recreational services. They currently serve around 75 clients over the age of 21.

“We're a family, this is a home to so many people,” said Carpenter.

But that home has been closed for the last few days, as staff works to clean up thousands of dollars in damages.

“Our clients are routine individuals and to be out of work for two days is a big deal to them,” said Carpenter. “This has just been personal, there was no reason for any of it.”

Now police are searching for the suspects, who they believe to be a group of teenagers. Anybody with information is asked to contact Stillwater Police.

Stillwater Police are also investigating a similar incident at the Stillwater High School baseball and softball locker rooms. 

Related: Stillwater Softball Team Ready For Season Despite Locker Room Vandalism

“It does seem like these incidents are similar in nature but without a confession, without anybody coming forward to say, ‘hey this is what happened’, it's kind of hard to piece the two together,” said Lt. Low.

Meanwhile, MPower is taking donations as they work to rebuild and clean up damages. They are taking online donations at : www.mpowerok.gov and have started a GoFundMe.