Man smashes windows with baseball bat in Taylor; incident caught on camera

TAYLOR, Mich. (FOX 2) - A person armed with a baseball bat was caught on camera smashing one window after another in a Taylor neighborhood.

The residence that was targeted on Polk Street was empty at the time of the incident on May 24, but little has changed – the home's windows are still broken and the man allegedly responsible is no longer in jail; he is now awaiting his next court date.

"He walked down the road with a baseball bat and a glove at the end of his bat – walked down the street just like that," said John Curcio of Taylor, whose windows were smashed. "This is outright crazy. In the middle of the day; 1:30 in the afternoon on a sunny day, and this man is with a baseball ball just busting out my windows."

The incident took place down a dead end street near Van Born and Pelham in Taylor. 

While he was not home, Curcio said he was surprised to get a call from Taylor police, informing him that his house was targeted. That prompted Curcio to watch his home security camera.  

"I never talked to this man," he said. "I don’t know this man from Adam."

And while Curcio did not recognize the suspect, his girlfriend did.

"He yelled out her name twice when he kicked in the front door," Curcio said. "My girlfriend, right away, started screaming and crying. She recognized who it was that broke the windows and did all this vandalism."

Nearly every window of the house was smashed, and a lawn mower was tipped from a trailer. The American flag on the lawn was knocked to the ground.

The suspect, Douglas Harland, was arraigned on one count of home invasion and one count of destruction of property, but is currently out on bond. A not-guilty plea was entered.

"Why would you do this to my home? Why would you do this like this? I still don’t understand," Curcio said, addressing the suspect.

When FOX 2 reached out to Harland, he said he had a lot to say on the matter – but since the case is currently pending, he did not want to go on the record yet. 

Curcio claims he does not have home insurance or the money to fix the windows, so they remain broken. And because the incident took place in May, he was cited by the City of Taylor for not cleaning up the blight. He said he plans on fighting the ticket in court. 

"He looks like he needs some help," Curcio said. "I don’t understand, and that’s the question that I really need answers to – why you did this to me."

Harland is set to appear back in court for a probable cause hearing in Taylor on Monday, July 15.