Pool slasher punctures summer fun in Northeast Philly

There’s no better way to spend a steamy summer day than cooling off in the pool. But some Northeast Philadelphia residents are out of luck — their above-ground pools stand empty or half-full in their front yards, victims of a slasher’s recent spree.

This is the sort of crime that can send neighbor’s suspicions on a tear.

Donald Williams says neighbors are circulating theories about who’s behind the pool slashings.

One woman “saw some people get out of a white SUV,” he says. “In a white SUV, they pulled up. And she saw them get out of it with butcher knives and come up and slice the pool and left.”

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Williams is quick to share other theories that could show motivation or possible guilt — one neighbor doesn’t like pools, and another has a pool that has so far escaped the slasher.

Looking at his own patched pool, Williams said this neighborhood’s usually pretty quiet and friendly.

“It’s crazy. It’s ridiculous. And it’s a lot of money,” he says. “I bought three patches this week. About $50 on kits for patching it.”

In a full pool at house down the street, a group of girls in bathing suits is enjoying the water.

There is no such fun at another pool down the street.

Resident Jim Carey and his three sons stand next to their pool, another casualty of the slasher.

“I came out Tuesday morning to go to work and I saw the sidewalk was wet and the pool was slashed. My neighbor’s (pool) has been slashed, but mine has never been slashed and I’m just upset about the whole thing,” Carey said.

Carey said his pool’s usually ones of the neighborhood’s busiest — full of his sons and their friends. He hopes to get the pool fixed soon so they can get back out there.

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