PORT HUENEME : 2 Men Arrested as Vandalism Suspects
Port Hueneme police have arrested two Oxnard men as suspects in the trashing and attempted break-in at a small office building in Moranda Park earlier this week.
Fidencio Lupin Hernandez, 18, and Jose Luis Mariscal, 19, were linked to the Tuesday incident through fingerprints, blood and skin found at the scene, police said. Mariscal’s hand was injured when he broke one of the building’s windows with his fist, Sgt. Fernando Estrella said.
The parks and recreation building was also marked with graffiti. Initial damage estimates were $1,300.
Estrella said Hernandez and Mariscal, who were released on $5,000 bail each, are members of an Oxnard gang. Police are seeking several other suspects.
With two officers cut from the department’s staff budget in recent months, Estrella said, the department has more important things to focus on than vandalism.
“Something like this happens and it’s not fair. It’s totally disrespectful,” Estrella said.
In May, 1991, the City Council voted to spend $15,000 on a graffiti eradication program that reimburses residents who clean up markings on their property, said Tamah Berger, the city’s code enforcement officer.
A third of the budget was earmarked for reserve police officers, who do surveillance in the hardest hit areas of the city. Since December, Berger said, police have arrested 25 vandals.
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