Police could pursue Central Lubbock vehicle vandalism as organized crime
When Texas Tech student Jake Lopez woke up on Thursday morning, he found a window of his vehicle had been shattered.
Usually parking in the driveway of his home in the two thousand seven hundred block of 24th Street, Lopez said he determined to leave his car parked in the street overnight.
The following morning, his roomy`s gf woke him up, telling him to step outside.
«Everyone`s car got hit,» he said, «but nobody heard anything, and so we`re not even sure about when it happened.»
His car was not the only that sustained harm in what police say was a string of vehicle vandalism cases inbetween one and three a.m. Thursday in the Tech Terrace neighborhood that officials could treat as a case of organized crime.
According to a police report, at 7:25 a.m. officers primarily responded to the two thousand six hundred block of 22nd Street in reference to a vehicle vandalism case.
Upon arrival, the report states, the responding officer observed numerous vehicles appeared to have had their windows cracked.
During the investigation, it was discovered other vehicles were bruised in the two thousand seven hundred and two thousand eight hundred blocks of 25th Street.
One of the involved vehicle`s windows was intact; however, the vehicle sustained harm consistent with that caused by a BB or pellet gun, according to Lubbock Police Department spokeswoman Tiffany Pelt.
«Total, there were nineteen vehicles found bruised this morning,» Pelt said in a statement on Thursday.
Pelt said police will increase patrols in the area and are checking with residents to see if anyone has security movie that could help in the investigation.
Treated as one case as opposed to individual incidents, Lopez said the vandal or vandals could face felony charges.
Title seven Chapter twenty eight of the state penal code shows the penalty could range anywhere from a state jail felony if the property harm is $Two,500 but less than $30,000, to a first-degree felony if the loss is $300,000 or more.
The weapon used can also affect the charge.
If there was more than one person involved in committing the crime, Pelt said, police could treat it as a case of organized crime.
On Friday afternoon, bruised vehicles in Lopez`s neighborhood could be seen, some with cardboard-patched windows.
He said his repairs are an estimated $250.
Pleased with the police work, he said he is nosey about the vandal and motive.
«There`s indeed nothing I can do about it,» he said. «It was just one of those things where I can be pissed off about it, but at the same time it`s not gonna do any good. I`d still have to get the window substituted either way.»
The case is part of an ongoing investigation.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Line at 741-1000.
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