Canton gone wild: Home trashed by juveniles, dead rabbit kicked around
Canton residents say they are “devastated” after “numerous juveniles” caused extensive damage to a home in the embattled community and were seen on video kicking a dead rabbit.
“We are just devastated to see the video of the destruction that went on at that house party on York Street,” resident Susan Carlson told the Select Board Tuesday night. “It was so disheartening. I don’t know about others listening but I cried.”
Videos from the party surfaced on social media last week before Thanksgiving, showing teenagers engaging in rowdy behavior and the damage they left behind.
One juvenile is seen kicking a rabbit inside the home, another kicking their foot into the wall while holding a drink, and a third slamming a broom into the wall. Numerous large holes were visible in what appeared to be an undone basement.
“Who did this? Who did it? Who did it?” partygoers are heard saying, with one saying “Nah, I’m not going to kick any holes into the wall. Throw a broom through it.”
Another is heard remarking about the damage done: “Dude, this house is never getting finished.”
Speaking to the Select Board, Carlson added that she’s been told that partygoers allegedly included members of various high school sports teams. She said that the town as a whole needs to look at its values and hold the teenagers accountable.
“That was such a blatant … and such a heinous act,” Carlson said. “Yes, the abuse of the rabbit but also the massive destruction of property. It is not OK. It is not OK for the kids of our town to be doing this. … We need to teach our children better than that.”
Select Board Chairman Mike Loughran read from a prepared statement on the situation at the beginning of the meeting.
“The Canton Public Schools and the Canton Police are conducting a comprehensive investigation,” the board’s statement read. “Where there are perceived conflicts of interest, CPD is already working with outside investigators to deal with those individuals. Any questions about the investigation should be directed through the Canton Police.”
Police Chief Helena Rafferty, in a statement last week, said her department was “in constant contact with the contractor/homeowner” and has “engaged outside municipal police agencies to assist us with the extensive interview process of those involved and other aspects of the case.”
Canton as a community has been under turmoil on the national stage amid the Karen Read and Sandra Birchmore cases, with Birchmore and Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe dying under criminally contested circumstances. The cases led to an ongoing audit of the local police department.
Rita Lombardi, a 45-year resident of Canton and a central figure in the “Free Karen Read” movement, told the Select Board she felt hopeful for the future of the town after an effort to build a new Galvin Middle School received overwhelming support at a special town meeting last November.
That support advanced the $241 million project to be voted on as a ballot question next Tuesday.
But then “we learned that Canton juniors and seniors out drinking and partying deliberately caused significant damage to a newly built home of a fellow classmate,” Lombardi said. She added that she was told the student’s family allegedly had just received permission to move in.
“Now their home requires extensive repair,” Lombardi said. “There is no question who was in the house because many at the party recorded the destruction and then posted it on (social media). They were that emboldened.”
Resident Brenda Sweeney asked for a moment of silence for the “helpless rabbit” and another for “respect the rest of the world has lost for the town of Canton.”
“I am not interested in living in a town that’s the laughing stock of the world,” she said, “and I know for a fact that many others in the town feel the same way I do.”
Related Articles
Prosecutors in Karen Read case want defense’s dog bite expert be excluded in new trial
Brian Walshe to Face Jury Over Alleged Murder of Cohasset Wife in October 2025
Ticker: Ex-Norfolk DA spokesman lands at Regan PR; $7.54B EV loan
Norfolk DA Michael Morrissey remains on hot seat in Karen Read murder case
Karen Read judge denies prosecution’s request to access parents’ phone records
Welcome to Canton. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)