Washington County Fairgrounds vandal turns himself in to police
A Hopewell Township man accused of causing tens of thousands of dollars of damage to the Washington County fairgrounds turned himself into Chartiers Township police Wednesday and confessed to the crimes.
Robert Vance Glass, 30, of 491 Ridge Road, faces charges of burglary, criminal trespass, arson, theft by unlawful taking, criminal mischief and receiving stolen property.
Police said Glass admitted to the vandalism both orally and in writing. He was arraigned Wednesday afternoon before District Judge David Mark and placed in the Washington County jail on $10,000 bond.
Glass went to the fairgrounds the morning of Sept. 29 and drove his 2006 Mercedes Benz into six garage doors for Halls 2 and 4, according to the criminal complaint. Police said he crawled through an opening in the garage door to Hall 2 and then forced his way into the fair office.
He damaged several windows and doors, cut computer and phone wires, and sprayed fire extinguishers. He also set papers on fire in an attempt to burn down the office, police said.
Lisa Cessna, executive director of the Washington County Planning Commission, said expenses for the “initial heavy cleaning” of the fair office have already reached $10,000.
“That bill just came in yesterday. We still have additional work,” Cessna said.
She added that contractors will be replacing broken windows and dry wall. The county will also have to replace all six damaged garage doors.
“It’s somewhere around $20,000 to get those all replaced,” Cessna said.
While the county is responsible for most of those repairs, the Washington County Fair Board is responsible for the contents of the fair office, including the damaged phones and computers.
Board President Todd Richards said all the equipment is back up and running.
“As far as cost, we’re still getting estimates,” Richards said.
Glass also took a hammer to an ATM. He loaded T-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, plastic crowns and a canopy tent into his heavily damaged vehicle, which he abandoned on Arden Road.
Richards said the items found in Glass’ car have been returned to the fairgrounds.
The ongoing repairs will not affect any events at the fairgrounds.
“Everything is still going on as scheduled,” Richards said.
This includes the 25th annual Pennsylvania Arts and Crafts Christmas Festival, scheduled for Oct. 18, 19, 20, 26 and 27.
“That is a huge event at the fairground,” Cessna said. “It’s one of the largest events outside of the fair itself at the grounds.”