House Trashed as Interracial Couple Move : Dispute: Vandalism is being investigated as a hate crime. But some neighbors deny racism was the motive.

An interracial couple who say racial harassment drove them out of Pomona received a grim going-away present when vandals broke into their soon-to-be-vacant rented house.

Elton and Mary Barnes, who are moving to Victorville, said they had moved most of their belongings out of their rented house on East Alvarado Street and were not home at the time of the attack early Wednesday. They discovered thousands of dollars’ worth of damage when they returned later in the day.

Someone had scratched “Finally you left” into a glass mirror. Windows were broken, doors shattered and toilet paper scattered throughout the house. A garage that had been converted into a studio apartment for the couple’s sons was ransacked, a stereo system was smashed and the ceiling and walls were badly damaged. A stuffed toy rabbit and a teddy bear were found hanging from the ceiling.

Pomona Police Lt. Joe Romero said the couple reported the incident as a hate crime, and authorities are investigating accordingly.

Elton Barnes, a black, 28-year-old tax accountant, said he and his wife, who is white, have endured two years of vandalism and harassment in the neighborhood. Although some neighbors became good friends, he said, others called him racist names.

Over the past two years, Barnes said, vandals dumped paint on his cars, slashed his tires, threw rocks at his house, broke windows and beat his dogs. Although he filed police reports, there were no arrests, authorities said.

The Barneses contend that they are the victims of racism, although on the surface their disagreements with neighbors centered on their pet dogs and home office.

City planning officials in June denied them a permit to conduct a tax business in their home after neighbors said clients created traffic problems.

The Pomona Valley Humane Society earlier this year asked the district attorney’s office to file public nuisance charges against the couple after receiving numerous complaints about dogs barking incessantly and running loose.

Mary Barnes, 36, said their attorney, without their authority, arranged a plea bargain in which they pleaded guilty and paid a $250 fine.

Elton Barnes said he and his wife have spent $10,000 to $15,000 since 1989 repairing damage to their house and cars and paying veterinary bills for injuries to their dogs.

They haven’t added up the damage to the rented Pomona house, but they said they are responsible for making the repairs before turning the house back over to its owner.

Several neighbors said they believe the couple’s charges of racism. But others dispute the allegations.

One neighbor, Donald Griggs, said, “The racism is in their own minds.” He said he considered himself a friend of Elton Barnes’ until their differences over barking dogs and the use of the house as an office brought them into conflict.

Their disagreements had nothing to do with race, said Griggs, who added, “If I was a racist, I wouldn’t be in Pomona.”

Elton Barnes said racism persists in Pomona even though the city is racially diverse. That’s why he and his wife decided to move to Victorville, he said, where they have purchased a home on a half-acre of land and hope to get along better with the neighbors.