Griffon's car vandalized, race may be an issue

Kenney Price

By Joe Warren

Nevada Daily Mail

NEVADA, Mo. -- A player on this year's Nevada Griffons team had his car vandalized early the morning of July 23, and he believes race may have been the motivating factor.

The right side mirror is missing, matching the left side.

Kenny Price, an outfielder for the Griffons from Northeast Texas Community College, was one of three black players on Nevada's roster.

While at a party held at the host residence of a teammate the night of July 22, Price said his car was trashed, causing $4,000-$5,000 worth of damage.

"The side mirrors were kicked off, the sides were dented, they tore off my windshield wipers and whipped the car with them. It looked like they broke some beer bottles over the car, it smelled like beer," Price said.

The windshield wipers were torn off the car.

Price said he came out of the party to get something out of his car just before 2 a.m., when he noticed the damage.

He said he called the police immediately, but that it took more than an hour and a half for anybody to respond.

"I had to call back after an hour and they said it wasn't within the city's jurisdiction," Price said. "So I said, 'whose jurisdiction is it?' and they said the sheriff's department. Almost 45 minutes after that they finally arrived."

Nevada Griffon player Kenny Price's Pontiac Grand Am, shown in pictures taken the morning of July 23. The side mirror is missing and there are dents all over the doors.

A report was filed by deputy Steve Schlup, classifying the incident as Property Damage in the first degree, a Class D felony.

Price said he originally thought the damage was done because he was talking to a girl at the party and somebody had gotten jealous. However, he's convinced now that the crime was committed because he is black.

"It was race related," Price said, without a doubt in his voice. "I know who did it, we just can't prove it yet. He's the same guy that was suspected of doing the same thing to a car of a black family in town."

Sheriff Ron Peckman said he wasn't sure if the incident had a racial element, but that the department is still investigating and is keeping that option open.

"If we can find that it was racially motivated, that's going to raise the stakes," Peckman said.

If race were an issue in the case then that would classify it as a hate crime, and it would be reported to the federal authorities as such. Hate crimes add more to the sentencing if a person is convicted.

"Of course, it's very difficult to prove that race is involved in a case," Peckman said.

Peckman didn't identify anyone as a suspect or a person of interest yet, but he did know who Price suspected and said the department would check it out.

Price said he saw a white Jeep with two males in it when he entered the party that night, and he believes that they would have been the only people outside the social event who knew he was there.

"They were talking to a couple of girls who were there that night," Price said.