Treasured Bay Area pumpkin patch suffers thousands in vandalism damage

Staff members at a beloved family-owned South Bay pumpkin patch said they are devastated after thieves vandalized the area and stole a tractor. 

Daniel Estrada, an operations manager at the pumpkin patch, told SFGATE that another staff member alerted the team about the vandalism and theft late Tuesday night. 

The security guard on the scene encountered the alleged vandals, Estrada said, who had driven the tractor that typically pulls the patch’s “cow train” ride through the flower fields and the fences and into the street. 

The security guard reportedly confronted the driver when the tractor stalled on the road, and the driver ran away.

Staff members showed up to repair the pumpkin patches after midnight and worked until about 3:30 a.m. to prepare for six class field trips expected to arrive that morning, Estrada said.  

“There’s no way we could have canceled or shut the park down because the schools and kids have been planning this all year,” he said. 

The vandals also knocked over several port-a-potties and custom-made scarecrows, smashed and threw pumpkins, tore down the park’s fencing and damaged some structures, including a dinosaur, he said. 

The pumpkin patch staff estimates about $3,000 worth of damage and crews are still calculating additional costs, according to Estrada. 

Staff members, including the park’s engineer, were upset by the damage, he added.  

“[Our engineer] was really hurt because the guy’s here probably, I would say, at least a good 12 to 15 hours a day in the months leading up to it, setting up and doing everything from scratch,” he said. 

Estrada said community members have reached out every day since the vandalism and have offered to help clean. 

“Who wants to do this to a pumpkin patch?” Estrada said. “I can see a warehouse or something, but I mean, why specifically target anybody’s family place where people go?”

The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office told KRON4 that no suspects have been identified in the vandalism and theft and that this is an ongoing investigation. Anyone with information should contact the Sheriff’s Office.