An old man in Azusa known to his neighbors as “Wick” is seen by some residents as a nosy, but to others he is like a guardian who records every suspicious move on the street. behavior and notify neighbors.
So when Azusa police and SWAT officers blocked off the streets near North Enid and Crescent avenues and arrested 81-year-old King Prince, many residents of this working-class community were surprised.
For about a decade, King terrorized neighborhood residents by shooting metal ball bearings with a slingshot, breaking house windows, car windshields and even nearly attacking neighbors, police said in a statement. Investigators said they found ball bearings and a slingshot in his house.
“I never thought he would do this,” said neighbor Neomi Reynoso, 46.
She said the neighborhood has been plagued for years by flying metal ball bearings that shatter windows and slam into house walls. Neighbors don’t know who shot the ball bearing or why, Reynosa said.
King was charged last week with seven counts of vandalism. He pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday.
Another neighbor, who asked not to be identified for safety reasons, said a ball bearing broke two windows near his home about nine years ago. He didn’t think much of it at the time until he heard about a similar incident in the same area.
Neighbors said King rarely left the house except to mow the lawn or wash the car. Still, the man they called “Wick” waved to his neighbors and seemed friendly. He said that once, King saw him changing a tire and offered to lend him a jack.
Neighbors said they had no idea how King came to be nicknamed “Wick,” but some of them had known his name since they first moved to the neighborhood.
The neighbor said if King was behind the vandalism, he wasn’t sure why it was done.
“We never had an argument or anything,” he said. “I still can’t believe an 80-year-old man would do something like this.”
The neighbor said a piece of his front door panel was broken off about three weeks ago. He initially thought it was old wood, but later found a ball bearing on the ground outside.
Another time, he said, he was smoking outside when he suddenly heard something flying quickly over his head. He put out his cigarette and went inside.
King had lived in the neighborhood for decades, and he seemed to know what was going on in the neighborhood. Neighbors said that when a strange car parked on the block, King would share details about the vehicle.
Reynoso said that at one point, King approached her and told her someone was trying to steal gas from her car late at night.
“He knew everything, a lot of what was going on around the block,” she said.
She said he sometimes came across as nosy, but many residents thought he was spying on their neighbors.
She said she was targeted by a ball bearing about eight or nine years ago but didn’t know why.
She said King sometimes had disagreements with neighbors. She said he didn’t like people parking on his side of the street and would sometimes block that road with his car or trash cans to prevent others from parking there. But nothing seems to be upgraded.
King and his defense attorney could not be reached for comment.
During King’s court hearing Tuesday, a judge released him on his own recognizance but ordered him to stay at least 200 yards away from the home of the identified victim.
The next morning, another neighbor walked over to King’s home and posted a sign in the front yard with a message that appeared to be directed at him: “Stay away from Wick.”
