COSTA MESA : 5 Arrested After Windshield Broken

Two detectives on a stakeout arrested five juveniles on an alleged vandalism spree Thursday night after one of them threw a concrete block through the windshield of a Corvette parked near the officers.

After they were arrested, one of the teen-agers reportedly told police that the group had smashed up to 30 car windshields around the city, Lt. Gary Webster said, adding:

“One of them said they were bored and didn’t have anything else to do.”

Webster said the two undercover officers were sitting in their car at a stakeout near Baker Street and Harbor Boulevard at about 10:50 p.m. when they saw a car full of teen-agers driving down the street.

They became suspicious when they saw the same car go by three times.

On the fourth pass, the detectives were startled when one of the youths tossed a concrete block out the right passenger window and shattered the sports car’s windshield.

The teen-ager suspected of throwing the block was identified only as a 17-year-old from Costa Mesa.

He was taken to Juvenile Hall and held there on suspicion of vandalism and an outstanding probation warrant, Webster said.

The driver of the car, a 16-year-old from Anaheim, was booked on suspicion of vandalism and reckless driving.

Three other passengers in the car, two 15-year-olds and a 13-year-old, were also booked on suspicion of vandalism, Webster said, after which all four were released to their parents.

Webster said police had received only one report of a broken windshield from a Mesa del Mar area resident.

Detectives requested that anyone who saw someone break a car windshield or had a car windshield broken should call the Costa Mesa Police Department west substation at (714) 722-6714.