Arlington police investigate vandalism: cars painted with ‘vulgar,’ ‘racist’ graffiti
Arlington police are investigating after multiple vehicles were found painted with racist and vulgar phrases and images early Saturday morning.
Police received multiple reports of vehicles being vandalized with spray paint overnight, according to Arlington police:
Around 5:54 a.m., officers responded to a home in the 2300 block of East Timberview Lane. A man staying at the house came outside to find someone had vandalized his vehicle overnight.
Around 5:15 a.m., officers responded to a home in the 5500 block of Safari Trail where two vehicles parked outside had been tagged.
Around 6:35 a.m., officers responded to the 900 block of Moorhead Court where they located two vehicles at two different homes that had been vandalized.
Around 10:30 a.m., officers responded to a home in the 5500 block of Four Winds Drive where a vehicle was spray painted.
All four residences are within a four-mile radius from each other.
In an updated news release Sunday night, Arlington police said their investigation has determined that a total of 17 vehicles were tagged with graffiti between Friday night and Saturday morning. The vandalism occurred in several neighborhoods on the east and south sides of the city.
“These incidents appear to be random,” police said in the release. “We do not have any evidence that would indicate any of the victims’ vehicles were specifically targeted by the vandals. The victims are multiple races, genders and ages.”
“Our detectives have been busy working to identify the suspects and canvassing the affected neighborhoods for information and surveillance video,” the release said. “Based on their investigation, we can now say we do believe all of these incidents are connected and were likely committed by the same individuals.”
There have been no arrests made.
Arlington police ask residents who live near the areas of the vandalized vehicles to check their surveillance footage from overnight and call the non-emergency dispatch at 817-274-4444 if their cameras captured anything.
This story was originally published July 29, 2023 at 8:19 PM.
