Shawn King (left) and and Robert Harris of Piedmont Glass and Mirror install a new car windshield Tuesday afternoon on one of 31 vehicles that have been vandalized in Gaffney over the past two weeks. While safety glass in an automobile isn't supposed to cut your skin, it still can leave some nice scratches.

And the scratches on Shawn King's arm showed the auto glass technician at Piedmont Glass and Mirror was having a busy day.

On Tuesday afternoon, King found himself replacing his third windshield of the day, and about the 10th in the past two weeks, because of a widespread vandalism spree that has plagued the city of Gaffney during that time.

"It's job security for me, but it's not how I like to get it," he's been telling vandalism victims with full sympathy.

The string of vandalism first surfaced about two weeks ago when the windshields on five vehicles were smashed between Sept. 25 and Sept. 26. Nine more vehicles were vandalized between Sept. 29 and Sept. 30.

And as if the vandal or vandals are ramping up their efforts, 17 more vehicles were targeted across the city between Oct. 4 and Oct. 5.

Among those targeted were two vehicles owned by Robert Harris and his girlfriend Heather Ellis of Holmes Street.

"I woke up at 6:30 a.m., went to the front porch with my coffee like I always do, and saw the damage," Harris said.

His truck and her sedan were parked on the street overnight and both were damaged the same way. Someone jumped on their hoods and kicked in the windshields.

Ironically, Harris works in the glass business. He's employed at Piedmont Glass and he helped his coworker, King, lift a new windshield into place on his girlfriend's vehicle Tuesday afternoon.

"I wish I could have a little word of prayer with (the vandals)," he said when asked how he felt about the damage. "It's got to be a kid, 18 to 22, with nothing to do," he said.

Harris didn't believe he was specifically targeted as the damage appeared to be completely random. His neighbor's car had been targeted the week before.

Capt. Rick Turner of the Gaffney Police Department said police are taking the matter very seriously.

"We are currently doing an intensive investigation trying to locate the people responsible for this," he said. "We do have some leads but we do ask that anyone in the public with information please contact us here at the police department (at 864 489- 8115)."

The most recent string of vandalism resulted in smashed windshields on the following streets:

— The 100 block of Anthony Street,

— The 200 block of Chandler Drive,

— The 600 block of Willow Street,

— The 1200 block of East Frederick Street,

— The 300 block of Holmes Street,

— The 500 block of Holmes Street,

—The 500 block of East Robinson Street,

The 200 block of Sycamore Street,

— The 400 block of West Buford,

— The 300 block of Vernon Street, and

— The 100 block of New Street.

While it's not known for sure, police believe the vandal( s) might have been driving from location to location this past weekend. "If not, they're doing a quite a bit of walking," Capt. Turner said.

The damage caused during the vandalism spree has reached into the thousands of dollars.

Harris estimated it would cost him at least $400 in outof pocket expenses to fix his and his girlfriend's vehicles.

The previous week, vehicles were damaged on West Buford Street, Anthony Street, Hampton Avenue, Humphries Street, Adair Lane, Hill Street, South Johnson Street, College Drive, Elmore Street, Hackberry Drive and Settlemeyer Street.

SMASHED!

The most recent string of vandalism resulted in smashed windshields on the following streets:

The 100 block of Anthony Street

The 200 block of Chandler Drive

The 600 block of Willow Street

The 1200 block of East Frederick Street

The 300 block of Holmes Street

The 500 block of Holmes Street

The 500 block of East Robinson Street

The 200 block of Sycamore Street

The 400 block of West Buford

The 300 block of Vernon Street

The 100 block of New Street