Parma flamingo stolen... again

The Parma Police Department said one of the iconic flamingo statues on Broadview was stolen on Friday. Police said the case is under investigation.

The stolen statue is one of two in the city of Parma.

One statue was installed at the intersection of Broadview Road and Snow Road, in addition to the one in Anthony Zilenski Park, earlier this year.

The newly stolen flamingo was dedicated to Dennis Vasko's 4-year-old granddaughter, who has autism and is nonverbal.

"She's four years old and for everybody else like her that they could go, she loves the flamingo and it brings her joy," Vasko told News 5 Reporter Kaylee Olivas on Saturday. "At first, I was angry, but then knowing that I'm in the City of Parma kind of gave us solace. We have one of the best police forces in the whole area."

City of Parma Mayor Tim DeGeeter said the theft feels personal now that this is the second time it's happened in about a year's time.

"This is just horrible. As we were made aware of it, our service department workers were over there with officers to take a report because it's city properties donated from the Vasko family. Things start kicking up probably Monday because that report's going to land on the detective's desk and they're going to work their magic over in that area. As we all know, we live in a life with a lot of cameras all over, so it's really hard to hide a seven to eight foot flamingo," DeGeeter explained.

When Representative Sean Brennan (D-Parma) heard about the flamingo theft, he said he thought it was a joke.

"I thought it was a high school prank. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be," Brennan said. "Maybe it was a couple of high school fools out there doing it, but I don't put anything past anybody these days."

Brennan is also frustrated that police resources are forced to be redirected towards the stolen property, as he says there are far worse crimes the department could and should be investigating.

"For them to have to waste time and resources going after something like this, these folks should really be ashamed of themselves, and there's no excuse," Brennan stated.

The city does have a backup bird in case of emergency. DeGeeter said the goal is to have it up "real quickly."

"The other thing is Parma will be celebrating its bicentennial next year, 200 years, 2026. It's gonna be a very flamingo centric theme, shocking, so we're really excited about that. You'll see that bird will be back up there real soon," DeGeeter stated.

DeGeeter said a surveillance camera will also be installed overhead of the flamingo in case someone tries to steal it again.

If this all feels like deja vu, that's because another city-owned flamingo was stolen in May 2024.

The flamingo statue at the Anthony Zilenski Park has a replacement after being vandalized over a year ago.

In that case, Taylor Paul Pupkiewicz, 25, Marcus Anthony Balue, 25, and David Ross Burak, 24, pleaded guilty to vandalism, a fifth-degree felony.

The trio was sentenced to 180 days in jail and received a 170-day suspended sentence with credit for time served, meaning at the time of sentencing, they only spent nine more days in jail.

Each defendant was ordered to pay a $500 fine and was put on probation for three years. Additionally, they each must complete 500 hours of community service and must pay restitution for the damage done to the flamingo.

Vasko is hoping that whoever the copycat is will be caught and face the same punishment, if not worse.

"Maybe bump it up a level to to send a message that we're not going to tolerate this anymore," he said. "This gets around fast and if I was them, I would turn myself in. It's gonna be much harder if you let this drag on and go any further. You've done this to a four year old with autism. Just bring it back. That's all I ask."

The mayor is asking that the thief or thieves turn themselves in immediately.

If you have any information regarding the flamingo's whereabouts or the suspects, phone the Parma Police Department.