Paint, video tag graffiti suspects

Police say cell-phone video shows tagger at work.


ALBUQUERQUE -- A rash of vandalism earlier this week at West Mesa High School led to the arrests of three students who police allege were caught with paint on their hands and video in a cell phone.
Two of the kids were arrested today at West Mesa in northwest Albuquerque.

Three 16-year-olds are accused of tagging the school sometime Monday morning. Police said it was not hard to connect the teens to the graffiti during a traffic stop the same day.

”They all had paint on their hands,” Lt. Brian Carr of the Albuquerque Police Department Westside Command said. “An investigation was conducted.

“They admitted to tagging certain areas"

Police waited on arrest warrants as the investigation continued and today came to the West Mesa campus to pluck two of the suspects from class.

They arrested the third suspect at home because for some reason he had stayed home from school.

“They will be facing felony charges eventually in addition to civil charges filed through the city attorney's office,” Carr said.

Police said the kids' parents will probably be charged for the clean-up costs which could run into the thousands.

Evidence in the case includes video that one of the West Mesa students recorded on his cell phone purportedly showing the suspects in the act at another location.

They are just a part of a number of vandalism suspects that Westside police are hoping to arrest.

“With a little bit of luck, we're looking at six to seven arrests today,” Carr added.

Police were already investigating several other vandalism suspects when the West Mesa case surfaced.

The suspects in those cases are adults, and police issued warrants for all of them earlier today. Late today police reported having arrested one of those suspects.

Those other cases involve tagging in Taylor Ranch area and in the area of Unser NW and Interstate 40.

Police also anticipate issuing three more arrest warrants next week.