Glaziers work to replace a window that was damaged by a BB gun at the Amalga Distillery on Second and Franklin streets Tuesday afternoon. The window had three BB holes in it after a vandalism spree that reportedly occurred Saturday morning, said Brandon Howard, one of the founders working to open the craft distillery.

Glaziers work to replace a window that was damaged by a BB gun at the Amalga Distillery on Second and Franklin streets Tuesday afternoon. The window had three BB holes in it after a vandalism spree that reportedly occurred Saturday morning, said Brandon Howard, one of the founders working to open the craft distillery.

Vandalism spree racks up nearly $10K in damage to downtown businesses

An 18-year-old Juneau man was arrested after a vandalism spree in the middle of the night left windows and doors broken at a number of downtown businesses Saturday morning.

A Juneau Police Department officer was flagged down at about 8 a.m. Saturday and advised of a broken door at the Alaskan Fudge Company, according to a press release from JPD spokesperson Erann Kalwara. The officer responded to the area and saw a glass pane from the front door to the shop was shattered and part of it had fallen to the ground. The officer checked the area and noticed three other businesses on Franklin Street — Alaska-Juneau Mining Company, Simply Natural and Invisible World Trading Company — that appeared to have sustained damage to their windows.

As the investigation continued, two other businesses on Franklin Street — Amalga Distillery and Franklin Street Barbers — were identified as having similar damage to their front windows or doors, Kalwara wrote in the release. Damage to the business windows was consistent with being hit by fire from a BB gun. The estimated damages to the six businesses totals about $9,500.

The investigation revealed multiple persons of interest including Marco Shipley-Pacheco. Shipley-Pacheco was contacted at his residence and was arrested for criminal mischief in the third degree and taken to the Lemon Creek Correctional Center. Shipley-Pacheco appeared in Juneau Superior Court Tuesday and Judge Kirsten Swanson issued an order of release on his own recognizance, according to online court records.

The investigation to determine if all the incidents are related and caused by the same person is ongoing, Kalwara said Tuesday morning. Graffiti incidents in the same area of downtown were reported Feb. 14 but appear to be unrelated, she said,


Contact reporter Liz Kellar at 523-2246 or liz.kellar@juneauempire.com.


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