Westerville family spreads kindness to man who vandalized vehicles, stole pride flag

Yahoo

25-05-2025

The same day Caleb Shuey lost his job, his wife, Jen, realized the family's pride flag — including the pole — had been taken from the porch of their Blendon Township home.
Jen Shuey responded to the incident by posting in Facebook groups, including Westerville Families in the Know and Real Huber Ridge Residents, addressing whoever took the flag from her family's property.
"I posted to the neighborhood page. I was like, 'Whoever stole the flag: I hope you put it to good use, because I'm replacing it.' And so, we replaced it and put it back up."
Three weeks later, when Shuey was outside getting her kids in the car to go to church, she looked down and noticed what looked like a scratch on the car.
Initially believing it was from an accident like a cat jumping on the vehicle, she began to investigate, immediately noticing scratches all over both of the family cars.
Later in the day, the family watched video footage from security cameras installed on the home, where a man was shown marking their cars with children's scissors.
"This car pulls up in front of our house, stops, parks, turns off their lights, (he) gets out, covers his face and proceeds to mark our cars with scissors," Shuey said.
Planting for a purpose: From Muay Thai to a grant-funded garden, Liv White helps grow her community
"My heart just sank, and I felt nauseous. I'm like, 'This was so targeted.' I was really hoping it was neighborhood kids, but this was so targeted."
However, in the face of being a target, the community came together to show kindness to one another and the individual who committed the vandalism.
Rather than responding in anger, the Shuey family chose to hang a sign that said: "To the person who vandalized our cars, you are loved." This inspired a viral outpouring of support from the Blendon Township and Westerville communities.
Shuey said she had been working though processing anger with her own kids, and they were the inspiration behind the sign.
"I was like, 'All right guys, we've talked about this. How do we respond to hateful things?' And they're like, 'With love!' And I'm like, 'You know what? You guys are absolutely right,'" she said.
"So, we decided to make this sign for this individual, knowing that he'd come back before, so maybe he'll come through again. We've all been in a place where we feel alone, and we act out."
Remembering a hero: After completing a goal of 1,000 visits to the community, Fiona the therapy dog passes away
After posting again on Facebook after her cars were vandalized, Shuey said other families in the neighborhood said they had been targeted the following night.
According to Blendon Township Chief of Police John Belford via email, three township residents reported thefts and vandalisms between March 6-24, and a 20-year-old Columbus male was identified, criminally charged and arraigned on April 9.
"I am very proud of the officers and staff of this police department, and very proud of the way the community pulled together and took a stand against these criminal acts," Belford said.
April Zobelwas one such neighbor who woke up the next day and saw her car too had been scratched and a sign, which read: "In This House, We Believe Black Lives Matter, Women's Rights Are Human Rights, No Human Is Illegal, Science Is Real, Love Is Love, Kindness Is Everything," was taken from her yard.
"The best thing was that we posted that, and there were no negative comments anywhere. Jen had already gotten another pride flag, and she ordered two, so she brought one to me. I had another neighbor reach out to see if I wanted one," Zobelsaid.
"Nobody was scared about what was happening. Nobody was saying, 'We should take this stuff down.' It was like, 'No, let's double down.'"
This article was made possible by support from the Center for HumanKindness at The Columbus Foundation, which has partnered with The Columbus Dispatch to profile those making our community a better place. Help us inspire kindness by suggesting people, initiatives, or organizations for Reporter Sophia Veneziano to profile. She can be reached at [e-mail]. Learn more at Dispatch.com/Kindness. The Dispatch retains full editorial independence for all content.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Westerville family sends kind message to man who vandalized cars