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Thursday, March 6, 2008

2 Suspects in Tagging Had Previous Offenses

By Laura Nesbitt
Mountain View Telegraph
    At least two of the young men involved in the recent spray-painting incident at the basketball court in Moriarty were also involved in a two-day vandalism spree last June, said Assistant District Attorney Wes Jensen.
    According to the police report:
    On Feb. 3, the Moriarty City Park basketball court was tagged with what may have been a gang slogan in orange spray paint that one of the youths had allegedly taken from his father's truck.
    After one of the youths involved came to the police station "of (his) own free will to speak" with officers, police questioned him about his possible involvement with gang membership.
    When asked about the tagging incident and the slogan spray painted on the court, Moriarty Police Chief Bobby Garcia said that the teenagers involved were not associated with a gang but were trying to give the impression that they were part of a gang.
    "The reality with the kids who wrote that is that they are not associated with a gang," Garcia said.
    The two youths involved, ages 17 and 15, are facing charges related to the incident, said Romaine Serna, Children, Youth and Families Department public information officer.
    The two youths are undergoing a "complete diagnostic evaluation to identify mental health issues" at the Youth Diagnostic and Development Center in Albuquerque, Serna said.
    "They were on probation for one offense and they went out and committed another offense," Serna said.
    The next step will be for the two teenagers to meet separately with a juvenile probation and parole officer who will discuss the case and the youth's history in a meeting with the juveniles and their parents, Serna said.
    The meeting will take place in the office of Esther Baca, chief juvenile probation and parole officer.
    "The JPPO will have the opportunity or choice of sending the case to the district attorney" and then to court, Serna said.
    On June 18 and 19 five juveniles were involved with a two-day spray-painting incident up and down several streets in Moriarty.
    One juvenile received a two-year commitment to state custody in a CYFD facility, according to Jensen.
    The other four juveniles involved each received two-year suspended commitments, meaning they are on probation and must report to a probation officer for two years. Each was also responsible for paying $1,270.31 in restitution within two years and completing 160 hours of community service.