Vandals target Bloomingdale officials

BLOOMINGDALE, Mich. (WOOD) - The village president of Bloomingdale and two other councilmembers had their car tires slashed early Monday morning.

The slashings are considered malicious destructions of property, according to the Van Buren County Sheriff's Department.

The victims are village president Tom Rock and councilmembers Bill Rawlings and Toni Rankin.

The incident is "awful strange," Rock told 24 Hour News 8. "The three people from the council being recalled all had their tires slashed. It wasn't ... random. They singled out our three vehicles."

Rock, Rawlings and Rankin all supported the suspension of Bloomingdale police chief John Josten, after he pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife -- Allegan County Deputy Jodi Josten -- in April 2009.

Josten has a history of assaults, and is suspended without pay. He may lose his job after pleading guilty.

Many Bloomingdale residents support Josten and last week circulated a petition to have Rock, Rawlings and Rankin recalled.

"Hopefully, it does not escalate from this, but if (the suspects think) they are going to intimidate any one of the three (of us) by puncturing our tires, they're just in the wrong position," Rock said. "In fact, it proves our point.

"We had some tough decisions to make. We didn't force (Josten) to plead guilty to the assault."

The sheriff's department says "all three cases appear to be related" and asks anyone with information to contact officials. The department can be reached at (269) 657-3101 and Silent Observer's number is (269) 343-2100.