When PutnamLIVE.com broke the story about Wal-Mart's plans for a                             Hurricane store, critics                                   of the retail giant                                   correctly complained                                 that the giant store                                would draw the                                         criminal element.

From burglars to                              environmental code                             violations to vandals, criminals have targeted the construction site, as well as the empty store, costing careless contractors who failed to secure their equipment, thousands of dollars.

Some of the crimes have been brazen, such as the vandals that drove a scissor-lift in "doughnuts" around the 184,000 square-foot store a couple of days after Christmas and punched holes in the drywall. Damage reports ranged from $5,000 to $15,000 as the investigation continued.

Other crimes included stream pollution and illegal burning, damaging the environment and causing some neighbors to evacuate because of the smoke and ash.

One blaster was cited for not having a license.

Other crimes were routine burglaries of power tools, supplies, and other items.

PutnamLIVE.com has a stack of police reports showing items stolen or vandalized from $10 to $7,800 (posted above this story. For security purposes we did not report most of the crimes because we did not want to alert thieves that valuable equipment was simply laying around for the taking.

All of the crimes have two things in common: 1) They are a nuisance to Hurricane, wasting police resources. 2) No arrests have been made and no suspects have been named for any of the crimes. None.

The most recent crime is rather humorous. Apparently neighbors have had enough of the incessant beeping of construction equipment. Incredibly rude and insensitive workers have assaulted the peace and quiet of the surrounding neighborhood with the "motion beeps" for about 18 months, often in the middle of the night.

Since Hurricane's Clueless City Council and incompentent mayors refused to protect longtime citizens, someone decided a little street justice was in order this week.

According to Chief of Police W. Mike Mullins, foam was sprayed into the "beeping devices" which solidified. When the contractor showed up to move the equipment off the site, each machine had to be repaired because safety regulations won't allow the machines to be moved without the beepers.

Like the other crimes, no arrest, no suspects, though Mullins admits he thought of the neighbors right away.

Eventually, Wal-Mart will have customers instead of criminals. And eventually, shoplifters will become a problem as well. Hurricane's Disputed Mayor Scott D. Edwards promises the store will become an asset instead of a liability. However, it hasn't opened yet, and isn't scheduled to open until March 7th.

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Burglar Strikes Wal-Mart Site