Summit residents shaken by Halloween vandal attacks

"Between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., it was yellow paint," Hilda Prastalo told The Examiner, describing the paintball attack on her home. "I thought it was eggs, but I washed it that night and it was all gone the next day. "But then the next day, on Saturday around one o'clock, I heard this bang, bang, bang. I went upstairs because my husband was there doing some repairs. I thought it was him. And then I went in the kitchen and I noticed all bullet holes in the window and about five kids outside. "One of them was a neighbour's kid. And, of course, when they saw me they ran away. I had no proof of who did it, so I called Westmount Public Security. They said it's vandalism, and I would have to call the police. I called the police at the Westmount station on Stanton. They said to call 911 in case it was urgent, so I called 911, but they said it's not an urgent thing since the kids ran away anyway. There's nothing we can do. They told me to go to the station and fill out a report, so that's what I did."

On Sunday, Mrs. Prastalo spotted a group of youths approaching her house and confronted them — but they denied responsibility for the attacks.

An attempt was made by the Prastalos to clean up the yellow paintball residue that splattered on the side of their house, although some still remained. The window's double-thickness thermal glass was cracked in several spots. Projectiles, which could have been fired from a high-powered air rifle, left deep impact marks in the glass, although the family couldn't find any the pellets.

The fact that paintball weapons and pellet guns are so readily accessible to teenagers leaves Mrs. Prastalo feeling insecure. "Even if we replace the window next week, it might happen again," she said. Although she filed a report with the police, she says she remains less than impressed with their response so far.

Calls placed to Westmount Public Security and Station 12 police were not returned by the Examiner's deadline on Tuesday.