Burglars hit Canyon Lake retreat for wounded GIs

Burglars hit Canyon Lake retreat for wounded GIs

Web Posted: 02/01/2007 12:15 AM CST

Roger Croteau
Express-News

STARTZVILLE — Burglaries always leave homeowners feeling violated, but Rose Camero-Gill was disgusted by what vandals did to her vacation house at Canyon Lake, which she often makes available to wounded soldiers and Marines.

She bought the home as a retreat after her son, Marine Cpl. Steven Gill, 24, was killed in action in Iraq in July 2005. Camero-Gill, who volunteered at Brooke Army Medical Center, provided it as a weekend getaway for patients recovering there.

"They would go on the river and relax," she said. "If you've ever been in the barracks at BAMC, it's like a submarine."

Now Camero-Gill, whose main residence is in Round Rock, is considering selling the home.

The U.S. and Marine flags were torn off the walls and thrown on the ground. A favorite photo of Steven with his girlfriend was burned. Commemorative coins given to her by the military at Steven's funeral were among the items stolen.

"The hurtful thing is that they would throw the American flag down and disrespect it," Camero-Gill said. "And to burn his photo, that is just pure meanness."

Comal County sheriff's investigator Rex Campbell said the vandalism makes him suspect teenagers did it. The burglary happened at some point between Christmas and Jan. 25, and was discovered when Camero-Gill asked a friend to check the place for damage after the recent ice storm.

"The monetary value of the things stolen is relatively minor," Campbell said. "But the sentimental value of some of the items was priceless."

He said Comal County Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward, and more money is being collected, so the reward will likely increase. Anyone with information can call Comal County Crime Stoppers at (830) 620-8477.

A neighbor, Kenneth Cole, said his home was also burglarized around the same time, while he was out of town. Jewelry, designer purses, an antique Remington rifle, televisions and a computer were among the items taken from his home.

"Hopefully some of it will turn up in a pawnshop or a parent will spot the stuff in some kid's bedroom," he said.

Camero-Gill said items taken from her home included a drum set and electric guitar.

"I won't say I can't forgive them," she said. "But I want those kids punished."
rcroteau@express-news.net

Ellie

My family has a lake house there and to do that to her son's pictures and to both the Marine Corps' and American flag is sick.

Crime stoppers can keep themoney; if i had a tip those ****ers would be dead.

I think it's typical punk teenager behavior.

Personally, I'd enjoy, after they are caught, making them watch as masked thugs broke up every single thing they owned, then set fire to it in the front yard of their house.

Then they can be made to work for the county or state, hauling wood, picking up trash, etc, in a very public place, wearing a sign saying "Scumbag Thief".

But then again, I'm kinda radical that way...

I am with you Sgt. I think these people should have to stand in the city Square with signs on them saying what they did. Ted Poe did that in Houston as a Judge. I hope they find these people and make them pay for what they have done. Semper Fi

Cantrell:flag:

I would personally walk by and throw used kleenex at em.

And encourage others to do so as well.

NEW: Arrest made in burglary of Canyon Lake retreat for wounded GI's

Web Posted: 02/03/2007 10:17 AM CST

By Brian Chasnoff
Express-News Staff Writer

Authorities on Friday arrested a youth in the burglary of a Canyon Lake home that had served as a recovery haven for wounded soldiers and Marines.

James Michael Lakey, 17, was arrested around 4 p.m. on two misdemeanor warrants, then charged with burglary around 8 p.m., said Mark Reynolds, spokesman for the Comal County Sheriff’s Office. He remained in Comal County Jail on Saturday in lieu of $75,000 bond.

The home also had been vandalized, with U.S. and Marine flags torn off walls and a photograph of the homeowner’s son, who had been killed in action in Iraq, burned. Reynolds said a motive in the burglary and the vandalism remained unclear.

Someone called Crime Stoppers Friday morning and identified Lakey as the culprit, Reynolds said. Deputies then conducted interviews and recovered some of the stolen property that had been given away or sold.

The recipients were unaware the property had been stolen, Reynolds said. He urged anyone with other stolen items or who knows the location of such items to call Comal County Crime Stoppers at (830) 620-8477.
bchasnoff@express-news.net

Ellie

:evilgrin: A THEIF IS A COMMON~MUTHA~'F**KER,ME;I'D CUT THE THEIF'S HAND OFF!:evilgrin: SEMPER~NO~NO:iwo:

Homeowner says retaliation behind vandalism

Web Posted: 02/04/2007 01:22 AM CST

Brian Chasnoff
Express-News

When authorities arrested a youth Friday in the burglary and vandalism of a Canyon Lake home, its owner, Rose Camero-Gill, was saddened to discover she knew the suspect.

James Michael Lakey, 17, is the son of a neighboring family she said she had clashed with last summer. But that conflict — a tiff over loose dogs — seemed petty compared with the devastation wrought on her home, purchased as a refuge after her son was killed in action in Iraq in July 2005.

Someone had torn the house apart, burned a photograph of Marine Cpl. Steven Gill, 24, and stolen other irreplaceable items the mother was keeping in remembrance of her son.

"I've never experienced retaliation like this over such a petty incident," Camero-Gill said. "I'm speechless that it would come to this."

Lakey remained at Comal County Jail on Saturday in lieu of $75,000 bond. He is charged with burglary of a habitation.

Authorities arrested him after someone called in a tip to Crime Stoppers, said Comal County sheriff's Lt. Mark Reynolds. He said Saturday that he could not confirm a motive in the crime.

Last summer, Camero-Gill took Lakey's dog to an animal shelter after the canine kept appearing unleashed on her property. She said the small female dog would sit beside her fence and entice her two male canines — a German shepherd and a Boston terrier — to jump over it.

"I did ask them to please contain her," Camero-Gill said. "One day I just got fed up with it."

She did not tell the family what she had done with the youth's dog, but the next day Lakey retrieved it from the shelter, Camero-Gill said. Although an angry confrontation with the family ensued, calm had been restored by the time the home was burglarized between Christmas and Jan. 25, she said.

Lakey's family could not be reached for comment Saturday.

Camero-Gill also had been offering the house as a recovery haven for wounded soldiers and Marines.

In the burglary, someone tore U.S. and Marine Corps flags from the walls. Swords and a military flashlight were stolen, along with a quilt on which Camero-Gill's son had sewn the word "MOM" three years before he died.

The call to Crime Stoppers on Friday morning prompted deputies to conduct interviews and recover some of the stolen property that had been given away or sold, Reynolds said.

Camero-Gill said she believed the authorities had recovered only a stereo. Though she remains bereft at the losses, she said she's amazed at the outpouring of support she received after her story came out last week.

E-mails and phone calls flooded in. The Marine Corps offered to replace commemorative coins given to her at her son's funeral, and an Army captain said he'd craft a new glass display table, Camero-Gill said.

But one possession she cannot bring herself to recover is the house itself. She said she no longer feels safe there. She plans to sell it.

"My haven and my space have been violated, and the peace that I had there is gone," she said, her voice breaking. "That was the cost."

bchasnoff@express-news.net

Ellie

So, it's the entire "family". Good. These people should wake up to a flaming *hitbag on their front porch. Then again, they'd probably think it was a relative.

over a friggin mutt? man im glad that punk got caught. I hope he gets ass raped in jail

I live out by there, but in Sattler. All these kids have to do, is to commit crime and drink. But thats the country life for you. Its funny how neighbors can retaliate like that.

Recon!
Dmzkiler
TF 160th SOAR
:bunny: :tank: :!:

They ought to tell the other inmates what this little s*** bag did, and why. :devious:
Shoot the d### dog next time.
We grew up in the sticks with nothng to do, still didnt manage to do anything that worthless. S*** bag

i realize i have no place to say anything in this conversation but....
i say send him to Parris Island and tell every Drill Instructor on the island of his actions....and if 3 months on PI doesnt straighten him out then idk what will....

Better get OLE Sarge out there. I know that he has a thing or two for them
F@cking idiots