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HPD arrests one after about 40 vehicles vandalized

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HPD arrests one after about 40 vehicles vandalized

The Hobbs Police Department is investigating a recent “rash” of smashed car windows with an 18-year-old man arrested and two juveniles questioned in connection to the property damage.

On Thursday night, there was “another rash” of busted or damaged vehicle windows in Hobbs. Police said Friday that some type of projectile was used in the incidents. The broken windows date back to about last weekend as multiple accounts of the window damage and photos were posted online on a Lea County neighborhood watch page.

Hobbs resident Missy Currie said Friday her daughter’s vehicle was parked on the street, in front of their home on Vega Drive, when it “got hit” on the driver’s side window, leaving the family feeling “mad, livid honestly.” She believed it happened in the early hours of Friday.

“When the officer got there, I felt a little better knowing that we weren’t the only ones it happened to,” she told the News-Sun. “That it wasn’t a personal attack.”

The incident is one of dozens reported.

“We have a total right now… around 40 is approximately where we’re at… dating back to last weekend,” Hobbs Police Chief Chris McCall said Friday afternoon. “Thirty-three, I believe, we identified last night.”

McCall said police did take three people into custody in reference to the windows on either late Thursday or early Friday morning. One of the suspects is an adult.

“Juan Gonzales, 18, was the driver of a vehicle we stopped that had been identified by a victim as the vehicle that had shot out the window to his truck,” McCall said. “And there were two juvenile passengers also in the vehicle.”

McCall said Gonzales was arrested on charges of criminal damage to property and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The two juvenile passengers, described as 16-year-olds from Hobbs, were reportedly interviewed and released to their parents.

He added additional charges of tampering with a motor vehicle against Gonzales are possible, as well as charges for the two juveniles. He added those cases would be forwarded to the juvenile probation office.

“They’re suspects in other broken windows,” he confirmed.

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