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Graffiti vandals armed with glass-etching acid struck hundreds of windows along College and Telegraph avenues on two consecutive nights this past week, inflicting hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. 

“They went at least 20 blocks along College, w ell into Oakland,” said John Moriarty, president of the College Avenue Merchants Association. “It was wanton destruction.” 

“It’s really a horrible instance of vandalism,” said Karoline de Martini, president of the Telegraph Avenue Association. “It’s awfu l, and it’s not funny in any way.” 

The taggers also used paint along both streets. 

The vandals appear to be the same gang who have left a photographic record of their earlier works on the Internet at haywardgraffiti.com. The signature “Bely” that appear s in the Berkeley attacks is present on many of the website photos. 

Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies said the were reports of “60 to 70 cases of vandalism involving etching” during the two-day spree now under investigation by the Property C rimes detail. 

“The investigation is being coordinated with the patrol officers, and we have notified local merchants in hopes they can take steps to prevent further incidents,” he said. 

Okies declined to provide further specifics, “because it could jeop ardize our ability to put together a successful case and prosecution,” he said. “We are doing everything we can to make arrests and we are coordinating with other agencies.” 

City Councilmembers Kriss Worthington and Gordon Wozniak both said that they had been told that two suspects had been arrested very early Wednesday morning, but Okies said no suspects had been arrested in the acid-etching incidents. 

“There’s a lot of frustration on the part of business owners, because this is going to cost them a lo t,” Worthington said. “Very few people have insurance on their windows, because it’s very expensive—about half the cost of the windows themselves.” 

Wozniak said he had heard that two suspects were arrested on Durant Avenue about 4 a.m. Wednesday with spr ay paint. 

Damage estimates were hard to come by Thursday. Moriarty said that costs to owners along College Avenue in the Elmwood district were going to be steep. “It’s going to be in the tens of thousands at the very least,” he said. 

Another merchant wh o asked not to be quoted by name said police had estimated that the combined costs could be high as a million dollars. 

While police had told the councilmembers and several merchants about the connection to the Hayward website, Okies declined to comment on the matter. Both councilmembers said they were told by police that the department was seeking stay-away orders against suspects. 

Graffiti vandalism is a recurring problem in Berkeley, and Worthington said he has asked police to do targeted enforcement along Telegraph Avenue. 

The vandals hit two buildings owned by Rasputin Music owner Kenneth Sarachan, the music store at 2403 Telegraph and the glass-fronted Bear Basics building at southwest corner of Telegraph and Durant avenues. 

Sarachan said he carr ied no insurance on his windows. He said replacement of the twelve-foot-high curved glass windows at the front of his building would cost tens of thousands of dollars to replace. “They’re made in Montreal,” he said. 

The Telegraph Avenue merchant was angr y at police. “If there was vandalism on College the night before, they should have been out in force the next night,” Sarachan said. “They could have caught them if they had.” 

Roland Peterson, executive director of the Telegraph Avenue Business Improveme nt District, counted 12 etched windows on the west side of Telegraph in just the one block stretch from Dwight Way to Haste Street, which he estimated would cost $15,000 to $20,000 to replace. 

“When the acid graffiti first appeared a few years ago, I con tacted a South Bay glass company that specializes in repairs, and they said that in every instance, buffing out the damage weakens the glass to where it becomes unsafe. We’re telling merchants to replace the glass,” he said. 

Tad Laird, owner of Bolfing’s Elmwood Hardware at 2951 College Ave., said a glass buffing specialist has been telling Elmwood merchants that he could safely buff their windows for about a fourth or less of the cost of replacement. 

“Even that is going to be hard for some of the struggling business,” he said. 

Laird said Elmwood merchants have had a hard time getting police to respond to tagging complaints. Usually they don’t come out at all, and when they do, they tell us ‘Well, that’s life in the big city,’” he said. “But right now there’s a cop car parked in front of the store waiting to tag cars turning left from Ashby. Of course that’s a revenue generator. But at least this time they actually came out and took photos.” 

Laird said that police told him they had arrested a pair of suspects early Wednesday. 

“I’d like to see the city take this more seriously and devote some of its computer expertise to documenting where and when the attacks happen and then grouping the incidents by their content and design,” he said. “Maybe that way they could predict when attacks might happen.” 

“We’ve been hit by graffiti before, but this is the first time they used acid,” said Oliver Wise, a supervisor at A.G. Ferrari Foods at 2905 College Ave. 

Laird said awnings were also hit, and he has repeat edly urged fellow merchants to eliminate the painted tags as soon as possible. “If they don’t, within days you’ll find two or three more at the same place,” he said. 

Police told several merchants that they suspect the same group of taggers hit businesses in Oakland a week ago. Multiple calls to the Oakland Police department went unanswered Thursday. 

Sarachan suggested that police recruit the homeless to keep watch for taggers. “They make pretty good undercover people,” he said. “I have a friend who’s homeless who has kept an eye on my businesses.”?e