When vandals did thousands of dollars worth of damage to a local contractor’s equipment at a Cathedral City construction site, company leaders went public to try to find the culprits. But many online commenters offered hate instead of sympathy.
Commenters on TikTok video posted by a company executive said the vandalism was deserved because the firm is building a data center. But it’s not — the company is working on a housing development that has no data center planned anywhere near it.
Unknown vandals shattered glass windows and spray-painted the heavy equipment parked the night of Wednesday, May 13, on the site of a housing development in north Cathedral City where Desert Hot Springs-based Sky Construction Services is doing grading work.
After reporting the incident to the police, Mario Crncic, the company’s chief operations officer, said the suspects returned Thursday afternoon to vandalize vehicles that had been brought in to replace those that had already been damaged.
“A hundred percent they were watching us,” Crncic speculated during a phone call Monday, May 18, with The Desert Sun. “They watched the gate get locked up and everybody leave.”
Crncic said five pieces of heavy equipment and six water trucks were damaged. He estimated they would cost around $20,000 to repair, not an insignificant sum for a small business, plus the cost to rent equipment while they’re being fixed.
“Our business can’t stop,” he said. “We have contracts. We have to move forward.”
But when Crncic posted a video on TikTok offering a $1,500 reward for information that would lead to the arrest of the suspects, he was surprised by the response.
The video, which had around 599,000 views as of Monday afternoon, caused some anonymous accounts to blame Crncic and his company for building a data center — which it is not doing.
“If you’re building a data center….WE DON’T CARE,” said one reply, which had more than 2,300 likes, the most of any.
Over the past few weeks, the Coachella Valley has been locked in a debate over the necessity of local data centers. The city of Coachella is considering moving forward with a proposal for a large data center that would consume up to 300 megawatts of electricity.
The proposal, which has not formally come before the city for approval, is known as the Coachella Valley Technology Campus. Local residents recently blasted the proposal at a town hall over the project’s power usage and potential for pollution and water usage.
The anger over data centers made its way to the comment section of the Sky Construction video, even though the company’s work has nothing to do with a data center. It’s grading landscape for a new subdivision planned for the north end of Cathedral City, just north of Vista Chino.
For Crncic, the vitriol directed at him for discussing being the victim of a crime was surprising.
“At first, I was little upset,” he said. “I’m thinking, ‘What the hell?’ I’m not trying to get money. I’m not looking for anything but for somebody to be held accountable.”
It’s a lesson in how quickly misinformation can spread online, especially on contentious issues.
For the timebeing, Sky Construction will wait for the Cathedral City Police Department to conduct its investigation.
CCPD Commander Nate Hanley said there was no suspect information available, but the incident did not appear to be gang related, despite initials painted on one of the construction vehicles.
Despite the online anger, Crncic said he has received some positive responses from his video. He has been urged to create a Gofundme fundraiser to pay for the damage.
But Crncic said he has no intention of doing so.
“I’ve had a lot of people reach out, which is unbelievably generous and gives me hope there are still good people,” he said. “As much as that warms my heart, I absolutely do not want a dollar from anybody. This is not about money. This is about accountability only.”
Sam Morgen covers the city of Palm Springs for The Desert Sun. Reach him at smorgen@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Local contractor sought justice after vandalism. Then the hate started
Reporting by Sam Morgen, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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