The elderly man known to Azusa neighbors as “Wick” appeared to some residents to be a busy man, but to others he acted like a watchman, taking note of any suspicious behavior on his street and keeping neighbors informed.
So many residents of this working-class neighborhood were surprised when Azusa police and SWAT officers blocked streets near North Enid Avenue and Crescent Drive and arrested 81-year-old Prince King.
For about 10 years, police said in a statement, King terrorized the neighborhood by shooting metal ball bearings with a slingshot, smashing home windows, car windshields and almost hitting people themselves. neighbors. In his house, investigators say, they found ball bearings and a slingshot.
“I never thought he could do that,” said Neomi Reynoso, a 46-year-old neighbor.
The neighborhood was plagued for years by flying metal ball bearings that broke windows and hit the walls of homes, she said. Neighbors didn’t know who was pulling the ball bearings or for what reason, Reynosa said.
King was charged last week with seven counts of vandalism. He pleaded not guilty in court on Tuesday.
Another neighbor, who asked not to be identified for safety reasons, said a ball bearing slammed into two windows in his neighborhood about 9 years ago. He didn’t pay much attention to it until he heard about similar incidents in the same area.
King didn’t leave his house much, the neighbor said, except to mow his lawn or wash his car. Still, the man they knew as “Wick” was waving to neighbors and seemed friendly. Once, he said, King saw that he was changing a flat tire on his car and offered to lend him his jack.
Neighbors said they didn’t know how King got his nickname “Wick,” but that was the name some of them knew him by since they moved into the neighborhood.
If King was behind the vandalism, the neighbor said, he’s not sure why he would do it.
“We never had an argument or anything,” he said. “I still can’t believe an 80-year-old can do that.”
About three weeks ago, a piece of his front door panel was broken, the neighbor said. At first he thought it was old wood, but then he found a ball bearing on the ground outside.
Another time, he said, he was outside his door smoking a cigarette when he heard something whistling quickly near his head. He put out his cigarette and went inside.
King, who has lived in the neighborhood for decades, also appeared to be aware of the comings and goings in the area. When a strange car would park on the block, the neighbor said, King would share the car’s details.
Once, Reynoso said, King approached her and told her that someone late at night had tried to steal gas from her car.
“He knew everything, a lot of things that were going on in the neighborhood,” she said.
He sometimes gave the impression of being a very busy person, she said, but many residents thought he was watching over the neighborhood.
She was targeted by a ball bearing about eight or nine years ago, she said, but she doesn’t know why.
King sometimes had disagreements with his neighbors, she said. He didn’t like people parking on his side of the street, she said, and he would sometimes block it with his cars or trash cans to prevent others from parking there. But nothing seemed to go wrong.
Neither King nor his defense attorney could be reached for comment.
At King’s court hearing Tuesday, a judge released him on his own recognizance, but he was ordered to stay at least 200 yards from the homes of the identified victims.
The next morning, another neighbor went to King’s house and placed a sign and message in the front yard that appeared to be addressed to him: “Stay away, Wick.”
California Daily Newspapers
