Driver plows through Winterhaven displays
by Heidi Rowley on Dec. 12, 2006, under Local
Mark Lattanzi tries to pry apart the mangled display in front of his home on Treat Avenue in Winterhaven.
Police are looking for the truck that plowed over three Winterhaven yards Monday, destroying decorations and taking out the entire Holy Family and one wise man.
Mark Lattanzi, who has lived in the 3500 block of North Treat Avenue since 1987, has put up the lighted Nativity lawn decoration every Christmas since 2002. Previously, he decorated with a Santa, sleigh and reindeer, which were stolen.
Lattanzi said the suspect drove “through the gravel, aimed obviously exactly for the display and dragged it through the street.”
A neighbor reported seeing the truck dragging Christmas lights behind it and became suspicious.
Tucson police Officer Dallas Wilson said Lattanzi’s home was one of at least three homes vandalized by the truck, described as a newer-model charcoal gray Ford F-250.
The other homes affected were on Kleindale Road, less than three blocks from Lattanzi’s home. The incident occurred just after 10:30 a.m.
The Winterhaven neighborhood is known for its home light displays, which will be up through Dec. 26. But this latest act of vandalism might discourage Lattanzi from decorating next year, he said.
Anyone with information about the truck is asked to call 911 or 88-CRIME.
