Police say they are investigating how bleach ended up damaging front yards belonging to Karen Read supporters in Canton.
Police in Canton, Massachusetts, say they are investigating after lawns were damaged by bleach-filled balloons.
Three people, all supporters of Karen Read, have had their property damaged. Two of the victims filed police reports.
"You can see it's got a splatter," Rita Lombardi said, pointing to her yard.
It started as a small section of browning.
"Then I noticed a balloon, a water balloon, that hadn't been popped," Lombardi said.
None of this made sense to Lombardi until she talked to her neighbor around the corner.
"Bleach thrown on her beautiful flowers and vegetables," she said.
More on the Karen Read case
Over the course of a week, Lombardi noticed broken balloons in her yard near the brown grass. She called the Canton Police Department.
Brenda Sweeney also called police. She didn't find balloons, but the smell of bleach and a destroyed garden.
"Normally, this whole fence is full of flowers in the front and vegetables in the back, and we started noticing patches of it dying," Sweeney said.
It's no secret Lombardi and Sweeney speak their minds at Canton Select Board meetings, along with Jenn O'Donnell.
"We are looking for truth and accountability, and a lot of it came to light with the John O'Keefe murder," Lombardi said. "We had some issues in this town."
Sweeney calls the incident extremely disappointing. Her husband spends hours working on his garden.
"Little kids come here and touch these figurines, and they're throwing bleach on them," Sweeney said.
On Friday, we learned O'Donnell also had some popped bleach balloons thrown in her yard.
And on Lombardi's street, a bag of unpopped balloons was found.
"These people are stuck in middle school," Lombardi said.
"Any type of act in this community, or any community for that matter, that places another in fear for their safety and/or diminishes their quality of life is unacceptable," Canton Police Chief Helena Rafferty said in a statement.
Rafferty said the evidence will be transported to the Plymouth County Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
"These people are getting more and more unhinged, and if somebody doesn't step in, somebody is going to get hurt," Lombardi said.
The residents say they fear what could happen outside court on Monday when Read and her attorneys are scheduled to face a judge for the first time since a mistrial was declared.
