JACKSON – A resident of the municipality woke up with her car covered with open garbage bags, two flat tires and a racist slur and other symbols engraved on the painting.
Kiara Williams, 30, said she was in a position to paint when a neighbor knocked on her door around 7:30 a.m. on Monday and alerted her to vandalism in her 2011 BMW.
“The car had the (n-word), a skull-bone symbol, and the word ‘marked’ on top,” the 30-year-old nurse told reporters. “The first thing I can think of about protecting my children.”
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Jackson police showed they were investigating the incident as an “incident of prejudice” and “criminal damage.”
In a press release, police said that in addition to the scratches on the vehicle’s paint, the damage included “a chimney that had been injured by the vehicle, a damaged windshield and two flat tires.”
Police took a position on the incident between 7 p.m. Sunday and Monday at 4:30 a.m.
They are also investigating a voicemail to Williams’ owner in which police spoke about the victim’s residence.
“We don’t know at this point if he had any connection to the incident.” police said.
Contacted by phone, the owner declined to comment.
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Williams, her two children and her boyfriend have been living in the progression of 60 Acres townhomes for more than a year. He renewed his lease in July, a resolution he now regrets.
“I wish I hadn’t renewed my lease,” he says. “I’m stuck here now and I can only wonder what’s going to happen next. I have young people and I care about their safety.”
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Williams said he thinks his circle of relatives might be the only black circle of relatives living in this area of progression. Williams said it the first time he faced something like this since he moved in.
Williams said he shared his story publicly because “everyone knows racism is everywhere.”
Anyone who has more information about this incident should contact Jackson Police Detective Ed Howe at 732-928-1111 or provide the data to the department’s Stop It application.
Gustavo Martinez Contreras covers Lakewood. Contact him at [email protected] or 732-643-4061.