GARDEN GROVE : Youths Help Undo Damage of Vandals

About two dozen young volunteers on Tuesday cleaned up an elderly woman’s house that police said had been trashed recently by local gang members.

Edna Unland, 70, sought the help of police and code-enforcement officials after coming home from a vacation in Northern California last week to find her house on Havenwood Street badly damaged, according to police.

Police Capt. Dave Abrecht said that walls of the three-bedroom house were ripped off, doors and walls were spray-painted, and the woman’s clothes and personal belongings were dumped on the floor.

“It was almost unlivable,” he said.

Abrecht said the gang members apparently were invited by Unland’s 34-year-old daughter, Rosella Smith. Smith, who was arrested on outstanding warrants, said she did not invite the gang to the house. “Why would I invite people to trash the house?” said Smith, who has been released from custody. “It doesn’t make sense.”

Abrecht said police are still investigating the incident.

The volunteers, consisting of Explorer Scouts and children from the neighborhood, cleaned up piles of debris on the front yard, gathered clothing strewn on the floor and put away the accumulated trash.

In half an hour, a large bin provided by the city was filled with trash, including some discarded furniture.

The graffiti on doors and on the walls remained, but Unland, who has lived in the house for more than 20 years, said she was happy for the help.

“I’m too old to do this on my own,” she said.