For nearly 18 years, Maple Lake residents have been cleaning their clothes in the confines of Cozy Wash on Birch Avenue.
That era came to a close on March 13.
“Just between the vandalism and theft, we’re tired of dealing with it,” owner Gary Swearingen said.
That vandalism and theft resulted in significant damage on Feb. 12.
“Someone came in and cut out the coin machine,” Swearingen said. “They broke the soap machine open and took the coin out of that. They had knocked the camera off the ceiling. They bent up the drawer in the big dryer, thinking there may be coins in there.”
Those events followed several smaller incidents.
“In the middle of the day, people were dumping the garbage cans upside down and things like that,” Swearingen said. “With Denise and I not being right next door, we’re not there every day and we had someone there on a part-time basis. After 18 years, we can’t do it any more.”
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