Bible Hill, N.S., man charged with more than a dozen break-in offences after alleged vandalism to Dalhousie institute

It is difficult to see anything wrong at first glance when looking at Dalhousie University's Faculty of Agriculture’s Haley Institute, however, signs plastered on doors saying ‘the Haley institute will be closed until further notice,” tell a different story.

A Bible Hill, N.S., man is facing multiple breaking and entering and mischief charges after the RCMP caught him allegedly causing damage to a building.

According to a Friday news release, police responded to a reported impaired driver who was believed to have damaged a building on Sipu Road in Bible Hill around 7:21 p.m. on Thursday.

“Employees were speaking to a person who they believe was responsible for some damage at the facility. Police arrived and saw signs of impairment from a 36-year-old man,” said Andrew Joyce, Nova Scotia RCMP’s public information officer.

Police say the man showed signs of impairment, and when he provided samples to an approved screening device, he failed and was arrested.

The release says the initial investigation suggests the man accessed several unoccupied areas of the building and “caused significant damage” to it and the equipment inside.

“We found through the investigation [that] numerous unoccupied buildings of the educational institution were broken intro considerably,” said Joyce.

Michael Gratto, 36, was charged with:

•   breaking and entering with intent (14 counts)
•   impaired operation of a conveyance
•   mischief over $5,000 (21 counts)
•   theft under $5,000 (two counts)

Gratto will be back in court on Feb. 7, 2024

In a statement to CTV News, the university said, “A vandalism incident occurred at our Faculty of Agriculture’s Haley Institute that caused significant water damage. The building will remain closed until further notice. We are in the early stages of assessing the damage to the facility and will have better insight in the days and weeks to come.”

“The university is actively engaged in identifying alternative teaching spaces that align with instructional needs and the academic timetable will be updated accordingly the first week of January,” read the statement.

Experts said there are a few ways that damage of this magnitude can happen. “It could be somebody simply just opening faucets and plugging drains, maybe with paper towel. I’ve seen that done before, where the sinks are going to fill up really quickly and start overflowing,” said Trevor Wheately, a plumber in the Halifax-area.

He said it could also be caused by kicking the water pipes and breaking them off. Wheatley said regardless, it will be expensive to fix.

“It’s a big building so depending on how long that water was running for and what was the damage, I could see millions of dollars’ worth of damage,” he said. 

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