A Quad City family says it is being forced out of their neighborhood, after their home was robbed and vandalized with gasoline or lighter fuel, with a threat their 'house would burn" next time.
Jenny and Tony Cruz and their three daughters moved to a rental trailer home just three months ago in Falcon Farms Trailer Park in Port Byron.
Their home was broken into on October 13th, and again on October 17th.
"They came in, ripped the screen and ransacked the whole house. Our daughter's crib has gasoline poured on it," said Jenny Cruz.
The accelerant was doused on the carpeting, furniture, and mattresses in every room but the kitchen.
All the bedding and many of their belongings had to be tossed in a dumpster, not salvageable in the opinion of restoration crews on the scene.
The family's televisions were smashed, likely with a screwdriver. Holes are punched into several of the walls. Their couch was slit from end to end, and also, doused with fluid.
A note was left in their mailbox that reads "Next time, your house will burn. Get your s**c ass, n****r ass out of our neighborhood. KKK bitches."
The couple are raising bi-racial children and Tony Cruz is Hispanic.
And, he is a war veteran, serving 8 tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yes, 8 tours.
The robber or robbers took several rounds of ammunition, but no guns. They also ripped a Marine flag and an American flag brought back from the war off the wall.
Cruz says the couple's wedding rings were taken, as well as other memorabilia collected from her husband's time in the service.
The Rock Island County Sheriffs Department took a report on the incident, and is still investigating.
Meanwhile, the home is unlivable and the family is staying with Jenny's mother.
"Our society is down the tubes. It's 2016. This is just disgusting, that people would treat other people this way, just because she's got a bi-racial daughter. It's sad," said Darci Pettit, Jenny's mother.
The couple says it doesn't want money or hand-outs. She works at Genesis Hospitals and he works as a union carpenter. They have rental insurance, which they just purchased one week ago.
What they want, is what every good parent wants for their kids, and it can't be bought.
"The home that we thought was safe, is not safe for our children,"said Jenny Cruz.