Teens Arrested In Vandalism Spree

Neon-colored paintballs and marbles. Armed with thousands of rounds of ammunition, a group of Las Cruces teens vandalized hundreds of homes and vehicles, seemingly at random, over the weekend, police said.

There is no telling exactly how many may have been victimized, police said.

The widespread area targeted was East of Telshor Boulevard, and spans from University Avenue to U.S. 70 and Sonoma Ranch Boulevard.

Police arrested four teenagers Sunday night – Christopher Molina, 18, Dustin Holsberry, 17, and 16-year-olds Patrick Wilson and Devon Rehberg.

“They were using paintballs sometimes, paintball ammunition, but they were also loading the guns with marbles and firing them, breaking windows,” Dan Trujillo, Spokesperson for the Las Cruces Police Dept., said.

Gooey hot pink splatters of paint is really the last thing one would expect to find on the outside of a house or vehicle, but it is what more than 230 Las Crucens woke up to over the weekend, police said.

ABC-7’s New Mexico Mobile Newsroom found neon globs scattered throughout Sonoma Ranch neighborhoods Monday, an area where residents were hardest hit, police said.

Vandalized resident Barbara Whitehill said she thought someone had egged her white SUV Sunday morning, but discovered it was yellow paint she was scrubbing.

And Monday morning, Whitehill said there was more – this time, pink paint dripping down the sides of her car.

“It’s annoying and silly, that’s basically what I have to say,” Whitehill said. “My experience is it washes off and yesterday’s yellow came off easily, but it’s just nonsense.”

When police tracked down the group of teens, they found four paintball guns inside the car they were driving around in, and uncovered about 4,000 rounds of ammunition, police said.

If your property has been vandalized, call police at (575) 526-0795.