A South Bay pumpkin patch is recovering after its manager says suspects broke into the farm, threatened its security guard and destroyed everything in their path.
While the suspects didn’t take anything, they caused thousands of dollars of damage throughout the Spina Farms Pumpkin Patch off Santa Teresa Boulevard in Morgan Hill.
“They knocked over porta potties. They broke multiple scarecrows; they are all custom made. They probably went through about a dozen pumpkins,” said Daniel Estrada, operations manager for Spina Farms.
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Estrada told NBC Bay Area the incident happened at around midnight Wednesday when the farm's security guard started hearing giggling and the sound of a tractor. That's when the guard confronted at least four suspects.
“The gentleman driving the tractor just gunned it. He took off, went through our marigolds, crashed through the fence and took the cow train out onto Santa Teresa,” Estrada said.
Luckily, the train got caught on the wired fence, which stalled it in the middle of the road.
Estrada said the driver dropped his phone right in front of the security guard and then threatened her to try to get it back.
“She held her own. She was like ‘No, I’m calling the police, stay here' and they all took off once they heard the police was coming," he said.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office says it is working on identifying the suspects, but it’s the community that really stepped in, angered at the fact that someone tried to destroy their local pumpkin patch.
“I’m devastated. That's pretty sad that happened in our community,” Morgan Hill resident Kelly Brown said.
“It's a place where people can come with their family to enjoy the day,” said Magda Serrano of Morgan Hill.
Families have been sharing the incident on social media, even gathering clues for police.
As the days go by, the team found more destruction and evidence. One of the dinosaur displays was broken, and near it, they found shoes as well as bottles of liquor and another cellphone.
After the incident, Spina Farms is going to add extra security guards and surveillance cameras.
