Buoy Busters: Who you gonna call? Call 534-5166

By Patricia Bogumil

Editor

Rewards for $1,000 are being offered for information about anyone intentionally damaging expensive channel buoys in the Fox River and Tichigan Lake in Waterford.

So far this year, 17 lights atop channel buoys have been hit and smashed off, at a replacement cost of $162 each. The township has also lost five channel buoys (costing $167 each) to vandalism; 13 slow-no-wake markers; and four rock buoys, according to Waterford Town Police Chief Tom Ditscheit.

Right now, only three channel buoys with lights are working on the waterways when there should be 17, said Ditscheit. “It’s unbelievable what they’ve been doing!”

Every year, some channel markers are lost to accidental hits, he said. But this year is different.

“We’ve never had this much damage and seldom in the past has it been done purposefully,” said Ditscheit. “All of a sudden, it all went crazy.”

Much of the damage appears to have been caused by jet skiers striking the buoys and wake boarders trying to jump over them, said Ditscheit.

“You’d think somebody would see them, when there are so many,” he added.

Boaters who see anyone damaging the waterway equipment are asked to call (262) 534-5166, the non-emergency number for the Racine County Sheriff’s Department.

Try to get a description of the boat/jet ski, its operator and any boat identification number, said Ditscheit.

Anyone caught intentionally damaging the buoys faces fines and replacement costs totaling hundreds of dollars, warned Ditscheit.

So far, only one person ­– a 51-year-old man from Racine – has been caught.

A witness reported him intentionally riding his jet ski into a center marker buoy floating in the river to the west of Elm Island Bay July 5.

The suspect told town police he had accidentally –  rather than intentionally – hit the buoy. He paid $456 to buy a new buoy and light and pay his ticket, said Ditscheit.

If police can prove the vandalism was deliberate, state charges with heftier penalties can also be filed, he added.

Town Chairman Robert Langmesser called this summer’s spate of vandalism “disappointing.”

“These buoys are expensive, and it’s disappointing that people have to go out and destroy something put there for the health and safety of the community,” he said.

Both Crime Stoppers of Racine and the Waterford Waterway Management District have each posted a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible, said Ditscheit.

Crime Stopper tips can be called in anonymously at (888) 636-9330.