Vandals broke into the Interstate 95/Cottman Avenue Interchange construction site and caused about $4 million worth of damage to a contractor’s heavy equipment last week.
Officials from Walsh Construction arrived at the job site, near Magee Avenue and New State Road in Tacony, at about 7 a.m. last Thursday and discovered the vandalism, said Officer Jillian Russell, a Philadelphia police spokeswoman.
The culprits destroyed an overhead crane and damaged a backhoe and bulldozer, Russell said. They “rammed” a generator with another construction vehicle and pushed it into the nearby Delaware River.
Police investigators found pieces of construction materials scattered throughout the site and in the river, Russell said.
Investigators are unaware of surveillance video of the incident and have not identified or described suspects. A motive is not known.
The job site reportedly was secured by a fence and locked gate, which was not compromised, leading investigators to believe the vandals accessed the site by boat.
The site is part of a $212.3 million contract awarded in June by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to Walsh Construction II of Canonsburg, Pa. ••
