Cub Scouts seek support in replacing stolen property

This was the condition of the trailer and its contents when it was found in an open field in Perris.

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Menifee Cub Scout Pack 444 is seeking donations to purchase new equipment after their storage trailer was stolen and vandalized recently.

The trailer was locked and parked inside the parking lot at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church. According to church surveillance camera footage, the trailer was stolen at about 4:30 a.m. on April 15, said Cubmaster Ramon Barcia.

Using information from a tracking device he had hidden inside the trailer, Barcia was able to track the stolen trailer to a vacant field near Perris Raceway. The Menifee Police Department and Riverside County Sheriff's Department were notified. Given the information, Sheriff’s Department deputies approached the site and located an individual inside, ransacking the trailer and spraying it with blue paint in hopes it couldn’t be identified.

Barcia said the trailer’s door was ripped off and several scout items were missing, including a handmade wooden bridge the scouts use at their annual advancement ceremony and camping equipment. A Pinewood Derby track was damaged.

A GoFundMe page has been established to help raise funds for new equipment, including perhaps a new trailer. Those who wish to donate may do so here. According to the website, "We promise to be an example to these kids and deliver them a newer and better trailer while reassuring them that this community WILL NOT stand for such senseless crime and can count on each other, our Maker, and our 'endeavor to persevere...'"