Victims aren't laughing at prank
Courtesy photo Laundry pods created a sudsy mess in the front-yard pond owned by the Ramos family in Post Falls. It was among two ponds targeted by vandals.
These fish died after laundry pods were tossed into a pond in the front yard of a Post Falls home Saturday night. Two ponds in the Fieldstone subdivision were targeted. (Courtesy photo)
By BRIAN WALKER
Staff Writer
POST FALLS — This is a fish story that Jenny Ramos would rather not have to tell.
Vandals armed with soap tablets unloaded on two yard ponds in the Fieldstone subdivision Saturday night, creating a sea of suds, killing several fish and leaving kids crushed.
"They were trying to be funny, but it's not," said Ramos, whose front-yard pond was targeted. "People need to have respect for property that is not theirs.
"When we went outside on Sunday morning there was a huge wall of suds 5 to 6 feet high. It was intentional. We found laundry pods all over."
Ramos said all the fish in her pond on Thrush Drive, including four koi and two goldfish, died. She estimated the fish were valued between $300 and $400. One of the koi had grown to 15 inches in five years.
"We've had him so long that you could put your hand in the water, and he'd rub up against it," she said.
Ramos said she believes the incident occurred between 10 and 11 p.m. Saturday.
She said the same stunt was pulled around the same time in the pond of a neighbor, who lost most of his fish. The ones that weren’t killed still might not survive.
Ramos said the vandalism has had a ripple effect beyond losing the fish.
A 3-year-old neighbor had picked out her old goldfish for the pond and named her "Baby Orange."
"She checked on it every day," Ramos said. "Usually goldfish don't survive so we were going to just replace it and not tell her if it died. But in this case, when all of the fish died, we had no other choice but to tell her."
Ramos said her 9-year-old son, Cole, was also devastated.
"When I told him that the fish were gone, he asked which one," she said. "When I told him all of them, he started to cry."
Ramos said some of the plants that were soaked in suds might also die. The verdict is still out on whether the pump was damaged.
She suspects neighborhood kids may be behind the prank.
"A neighbor heard kids laughing around 1 a.m., so we think maybe they came back to laugh at what they did," she said.
Neighbors are checking their surveillance cameras to see if they can obtain suspect information.
Ramos said they've had the pond for six years and it never had been disturbed.
"We have massive amounts of Halloween decorations, but have never had an incident," she said.
Ramos said she hopes the culprits can be found.
"I'd like them to come forward," she said. "It was damaging and I want them to apologize to my son for what they did."
Ramos said a $400 reward is also being offered for information that leads to the person or persons responsible for the act.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Post Falls Police at 208-773-3517 or leave an anonymous tip: www.postfallspolice.com