County equipment found damaged

Investigators with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office are searching for the vandals responsible for damaging equipment being used to repair the bridge on Cowpen Creek Road over the weekend.
The damage, which was minimal, did not delay the timetable for when the bridge is expected to be back into commission, according to Escambia County Commissioner Brandon Smith.
“Other than what work was delayed this morning, everything is back to normal, and it is still on track to open within the next week or in a week and a half,” Smith said Monday morning.
Windows were busted out of a track hoe and a bulldozer, and a packer was driven into the creek, which the bridge is being reconstructed over.
“They did attempt to crank the bulldozer, and if they had been able to do that, then there’s no telling what kind of damage they could have done,” Smith said. “They could have damaged the bridge.”
Workers returned to the bridge, which has been out of commission since the floods of December 2009, ready to work on Monday morning and found the damaged equipment with the packer bogged down in the creek’s waters.
Despite being held up to remove the packer from the creek and the investigation by the Sheriff’s Office that included fingerprinting and checking around the neighborhood, everything was routine with the work at the Cowpen Creek Road bridge continuing.
The bridge is still on track to open before the end of the month.