Mokena Park District Calls Out Kids Who Damaged Picnic Tables At Main Park

MOKENA, IL — Mokena Park District officials on Wednesday called out several juveniles for damaging picnic tables at Main Park.

The youths, the park district said, were captured on camera damaging the $1,300 ADA picnic tables near the Main Park bathrooms. The park district shared images of the kids—with their faces obscured—at the park located at 10925 W. La Porte Rd.

One of the juveniles responsible has since come forward, the park district said late Wednesday afternoon.

"A young man came forward and admitted his mistake," the park district wrote. "We are expecting others to do the same very soon."

In its original post, the park district asked for the juveniles responsible to come forward.

"We value FUN—after all, we are a park district," the park district wrote on social media in a post that has since been removed. "We also value COMMON SENSE. Unfortunately, those two don’t always go hand in hand.

"While it may seem FUN to damage our $1,300 ADA picnic tables near the Main Park bathrooms, COMMON SENSE should remind you that you are always being watched. Our HD videos show crystal clear images of your bikes (especially that nice orange bike that few people likely own), your clothing, and even your faces."

The park district's initial post said that while they had not yet reported the incident to police at the time of publishing (8:30 a.m. Wednesday), it was a potential course of action.

"If this behavior continues, we will have no choice but to share this information with local law enforcement," the park district wrote. "From there, school resource officers will probably identify you within 30 minutes and your parents may owe us a bit of money. You might even end up doing a little community service for us. Who knows, maybe you'll help us assemble the replacement picnic tables that we were forced to order. We sincerely hope it doesn’t come to that."

As the post gained traction, commenters urged the park district to report it to police immediately.

"Don’t wait, share it with local law enforcement now!" one commenter wrote. "What are you waiting for?"

"NOPE. Please don't take a chance with that behavior," wrote another. "The chance of these or other children who commit crimes seeing this post is slim to NIL. Notify the Mokena cops now. Make an example out of them."

"Report it to the police," another urged. "This behavior is unacceptable and cannot be corrected on Facebook. Parents need to be responsible for their children's actions and pay the consequences. Our taxpayer dollars are going towards this equipment and we all have an obligation to report it."

The park district initially said they wanted to "treat this as a learning moment.

"Please talk to your kids," they wrote. "Talk to your friends. Help us take care of the spaces everyone in the community enjoys. This needs to stop."

Community members called for the juveniles to be held accountable.

"What needs to happen is the kids need to be brought in and scared," one wrote. "If you want to give them a one-time pass and not press charges, that's very nice and I'm sure the family would appreciate it. Set up some community service. No consequence means no lesson learned. It does not have to be something that goes on their permanent record."

"I would send the bill to the parents and have the kids on park cleanup," another said.

“'Not MY kid,'" another wrote. "I wonder when the parents will do the right thing and replace the equipment. Then make them work for the park district for the summer."

The park district later commented that they had taken the matter to the police.

"Thank you for [your] concerns," the park district commented just after 1 p.m. "This incident has been reported to the Mokena Police Department. We value our cooperation with the police, and we do not condone vandalism of any kind [to] our parks and facilities."