Arrest made in trashing of statues

"Sinner" chopped up the angel, according to police.

John Michael Wood, a 23-year-old who has "Sinner" tattooed in old English script across the front of his neck, is the man who stole two statues -- depicting an angel and two children on a bench -- from Opportunity Village on Aug. 14, police allege. Wood cut them into pieces, apparently with some type of electric saw, and sold them to a recycling yard for $268, authorities say.

"The damage done is really icky," said Carey Harned, grants and major gifts officer for the nonprofit organization. "I mean the head of the angel is slashed in the face."

Police didn't have to go far to arrest Wood. The Las Vegas resident was already in the county jail on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and auto burglary when he was rebooked on a charge of grand larceny in connection with the theft of the bronze statues, which were estimated to be worth $20,000.

Linda Smith, Opportunity Village's chief development officer, said that only a creep would commit such a crime and that she hopes Wood will be "behind bars for a while" to contemplate how he "hurt so many people."

Opportunity Village serves people with mental disabilities by providing them with vocational training, employment and social recreation services. The angel statue was especially important to people involved with the organization, Harned said.

"People here don't understand when something like this happens, because they don't steal things," she said. "We saw lots of sad faces and hurt feelings."

While the statues themselves are not reparable, Smith said she hopes the spirt of the statues will be pieced together through Operation Village supporters.

The organization is working with KXNT-AM radio to distribute the statue chunks at the radio station's annual penny drive to support Opportunity Village.

"The angel was of great value to us, and people might like to have something like that to bring them some luck," Smith said.