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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Halloween was no treat for John Chicchetti and his family this weekend when a knife-wielding, costumed man ran onto his porch and smashed a front window.</p><p>The early morning mischief Sunday was caught on Chicchetti&#8217;s video surveillance system. It showed the man, holding a hunting knife and wearing a head-to-toe, skin-tight body suit that concealed his face, run up onto the porch around 2:15 a.m. and dash away seconds later down South River Street.</p><p>The evidence further showed the man came from a house next door where Wilkes University students live, Chicchetti said.</p><p>&#8220;The dogs went ballistic,&#8221; he said, referring to the sound of breaking glass. The commotion woke up the household and led Chicchetti and his daughter-in-law to contact police and school officials. Police have not arrested anyone.</p><p>&#8220;He had a knife. What if the dogs had not been there, would he have come into the house?&#8221; asked Chicchetti&#8217;s daughter-in-law Samantha.</p><p>The smashed window was the latest incident Chicchetti and his family have dealt with on the block between Academy and South streets filled with mostly off-campus student housing. Chicchetti, who said he&#8217;s lived on the street for 30 years, brought up the issue of nuisance properties at a Wilkes-Barre City Council meeting last month.</p><p>A school official received still photos Chicchetti sent by email but has not seen the video, said Paul Adams, vice president of student affairs. If it&#8217;s provided to Wilkes, Adams said the school would be happy to show it to the young people living next to Chicchetti in an effort to identify the person who did the damage.</p><p>Chicchetti&#8217;s son Tom said he would make a CD for the school to view.</p><p>&#8220;He shouldn&#8217;t have an episode like that happen,&#8221; Adams said.</p><p>&#8220;We do hold our students responsible for their behavior, whether it&#8217;s on campus or off campus,&#8221; Adams added.</p><p>He said the school pledged to cooperate with Chicchetti. School officials have responded to Chicchetti&#8217;s complaints in the past by contacting students who live off campus and increasing the presence of both school security and off-duty Wilkes-Barre police officers in the area on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, Adams said.</p><p>&#8220;I think that has had an impact,&#8221; he said.</p><p>No one answered the door at the off-campus residence Monday next to Chicchetti&#8217;s double-block home. A call to the landlord of the off-campus property was not immediately returned.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL110315Chiccetti12.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">John Chicchetti and his son Thomas review video footage of a man in a unitard and sneakers coming onto their front porch from a neighboring property and smashing a window. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL110315Chiccetti12.jpg</photo0><caption0>John Chicchetti and his son Thomas review video footage of a man in a unitard and sneakers coming onto their front porch from a neighboring property and smashing a window. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL110315Chiccetti22.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Thomas Chicchetti points to a surveillance video showing a man standing on a neighboring porch signaling to another person on South River Street when the coast is clear. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL110315Chiccetti22.jpg</photo1><caption1>Thomas Chicchetti points to a surveillance video showing a man standing on a neighboring porch signaling to another person on South River Street when the coast is clear. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_vandal2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A still from a home surveillance video shows a knife-wielding, costumed man running onto the front porch of a residence on South River Street in Wilkes-Barre to smash a window on Sunday morning. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_vandal2.jpg</photo2><caption2>A still from a home surveillance video shows a knife-wielding, costumed man running onto the front porch of a residence on South River Street in Wilkes-Barre to smash a window on Sunday morning. </caption2><photoCredit2>Submitted photo </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLNews.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Video captures knife-wielding, costumed man breaking front porch window in Wilkes-Barre