Police arrest 91-year-old local resident in West Branch vandalism incident

Hunter
11/07/22

Authorities allege the person who caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to a West Branch construction project is a 91-year-old man who lives near the site.

Croell Inc., which has a location on South Riverside Drive, reported to KCJJ that the suspects drove through fresh, wet concrete on Herbert Hoover Highway about a half-mile west of West Branch High School sometime on Tuesday November 1st. They offered a $10,000 reward for information that led to the arrest of those involved.

The Johnson County Sheriff’s office conducted an investigation into the incident and determined that 91-year-old Carl Fobian of Oasis Road Northeast in West Branch drove his 2008 Chevy Impala around the closed barricades on Herbert Hoover Highway at Oasis Road Northeast and then again at Lower West Branch Road Northeast. He reportedly  drove through the newly-poured concrete for about a quarter mile, then made a three-point turn and drove out the way he came in.

Croell Inc. estimated the damage Fobian caused exceeded $366,000.

Fobian was arrested Sunday afternoon and charged with Trespass causing Damage, a serious misdemeanor punishable by a jail term of up to one year if convicted.