$1,000 reward offered in Mill Brook Park equipment theft

Jun 05, 2023

Vietnam Memorial Commission Chairman Ralph Basiliere kneels on a cement slab where a city-owned metal toolbox sat until it was stolen.

HAVERHILL — A local veteran-owned business that wishes to remain anonymous has offered a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the Aug. 23-24 theft of city equipment out of Mill Brook Park, home to the city’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Ralph Basiliere, chair of the city’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commission, said the reward is intended to go to whomever provides police with information that leads to the arrest of the person or person’s responsible for the theft.

“It’s hugely disrespectful to steal from a veteran’s park and we hope this reward will send a clear message that here in Haverhill, all Vietnam veterans are treasured and are to be left alone,” he said, noting the equipment stolen from the park was used for landscaping and to hold events for veterans in the park.

He said that following the discovery of the theft, police recovered personal items from the park the thieves may have left behind and are reviewing video surveillance.

“Following the theft, police investigators visited the homes of neighbors,” he said. “At some point I’m hoping to hand the tipster 10, $100 bills provided by a veteran run business in the city.”

Last week Basiliere reported that thieves who entered Mill Brook Park stole a city-owned, locked metal chest containing tools and landscaping equipment and also damaged a large, locked plastic box that protects irrigation controls at Mill Brook Park.

He said he discovered the theft and damages the morning of Thursday, Aug. 24, during one of his daily maintenance visits to the park, where in 2020 the city installed a memorial to those who served in the Vietnam War.

Basiliere said the locked metal chest of the kind you might find at a construction site contained six, 150-foot commercial grade extension cords used during functions at the park and are valued at $200 each; tree spikes for the next two seasons; a dozen high-flow sprinkler heads valued at $100 each, a battery powered drill and hedge trimmer; commercial grade shovels, rakes, a hoe and an axe, and other tools.

He said the lock may have been too difficult to break, so the thieves took the entire metal box.

“At this time we can’t hold functions for veterans that require the use of electricity,” Basiliere said.

“The thieves also took several slabs of granite, a commercial grade wheelbarrow that was chained to an electrical box and also took several bags of polymeric sand used to fill paver joints.”

He said he believes the thieves used a battery powered saw to cut through the metal chain, which they took as well.

All of the equipment and supplies were purchased with grant money and donations, he said.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Police Detective Conor Rogier at 978-373-1212, ext. 1590.

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