A case of malicious mischief is on the fast track to being solved thanks to police work and social media.

Three juveniles have been taken into custody in response to vandalism that occurred Friday, March 4, at the Vicksburg YMCA W.K. Purks Center, Vicksburg police Capt. Sandra Williams said.

“The juveniles will appear in youth court, and the families will be responsible for the damages,” she said.

Security footage showed three individuals throwing bricks and rolling a large tractor tire at the glass front doors of the center just over a month ago. The individuals did not enter the building and nothing was stolen.

Because the damages totaled less than $1,000, Williams said the case would be handled as a misdemeanor.

Vicksburg YMCA executive director Phillip Doiron said social media along with the police work of the VPD led to the juveniles being caught.

“It was Facebook,” Doiron said. “We had a lot of response. It really was the citizens stepping forward, bringing information. We kept relaying it to the police, and they were able to use it.”

Last week, he took information to the police department that had been gathered over time. Doiron knew officers had been working to follow up on those leads. He was glad to hear about the actions that had been taken by the VPD on all the tips that were received.

“The Vicksburg Police Department kept me updated as they were having the investigation,” Doiron said. “They did a great job doing that.”

A citizen, who wished to remain anonymous, offered a $500 reward for information that led to an arrest. The reward money is set to be split among a number of different tipsters.

“We’ve got a list of who were pivotal in giving us information, and we will be reaching out to those people,” Doiron said. “We figured the best thing to do would be to share that.”

The front door has been replaced and only has one small etching detail left before it is complete.

“We really appreciate the work the police department did…and everyone that contributed to helping,” Doiron said. “It was really neat to see people respond in a positive way.”