LIVONIA, Mich. (WYXZ) — A Livonia man says vandals caused more than $1,600 in damage to his elaborate Halloween display after destroying several animatronic decorations over the weekend.
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Garrett Rons has spent years transforming the yard of his parents' home near Auburndale and Seven Mile into a popular Halloween attraction.
“Everyone in the neighborhood knows that this is where you go,” Rons said.
Rons said he has been building the display since he was a teenager and often turns Halloween night into an interactive experience, with friends joining him in costume.
This year, however, several of the display's centerpiece animatronics were destroyed.
Rons said it appears someone used a baseball bat to damage nine robotic figures on the lawn. He believes the same vandals also damaged Halloween decorations at other nearby homes.
“We're assuming people that damaged my stuff kind of went house to house that had decorations up and kind of stayed out of the view of the cameras,” he said.
The damage has rattled some neighbors.
“It’s a bummer,” said Carly McCallum, who lives nearby. “This is a safe neighborhood, so it’s a bummer that someone would do that.”
McCallum's family also puts significant effort into its Halloween display. While their decorations were not damaged, she said the vandalism has raised concerns.
“We are nervous,” McCallum said. “We were talking about all that yesterday because we saw it on Facebook, and we're nervous someone’s going to mess with it because it’s a lot of time.”
Despite those concerns, McCallum said her family's display will stay up through Halloween.
“We're hopeful,” she said.
Rons said the vandalism will not stop his Halloween tradition.
“It’s not going to stop me,” he said.
He plans to gradually rebuild the display, invest in new decorations and add additional security cameras.
Rons said he had not yet filed a police report but plans to document and catalog each damaged item to determine a more precise estimate of the losses. He said he intends to rebuild the display and continue the tradition. Neighbors are now concerned their own Halloween displays could become targets.
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This article was converted from a broadcast news script into AP-style digital copy with assistance from artificial intelligence and reviewed for grammar, structure and readability. All facts, quotes and reporting originate from the original WXYZ news report.
