ROCHESTER, Minn. – The Gamehaven Boy Scout camp southeast of Rochester was burglarized by vandals whose get-away truck got caught in the mud at the main gate on their way out and was abandoned. The devastation was discovered about 9 a.m. When deputies arrived, they found the stuck vehicle loaded with items stolen from the sprawling camp. Jason Dugan, scout executive, said video surveillance doesn’t clearly identify the suspects but does show them spending 1-1/2 hours trying to extricate their car from the mud before giving up. The car, Dugan said, carries Wisconsin plates, which gives deputies a clue. Damage was estimated in thousands of dollars at five buildings. Dugan said it looked like the vandals used a stray rock to knock off a lock. They tried to cut the copper wire off a propane tank for a long piece piece of copper. They knocked over a soda vending machine, emptied a fire extinguisher in one building, and spray-painted graffiti on a building. A deputy said one suspect left a footprint in fire extinguisher residue that covered the floor.
Camp profile
The 262-acre Gamehaven Scout Reservation is open year-round Scout groups and the public but was closed on Thanksgiving, the ni night of the ransacking. The camp caters to Scout units that range from Red Wing to Owatonna to Winona. The region has more
Gamehaven. Main gate, rustic, unguarded and trusting.
Dugan. Executive of Gameshaven Scout Council in Rochester, since 2018.