CHP Halts Daily Tally of Window Shatterings

For the first time in the spate of freeway window shatterings, reported incidents have declined enough that the California Highway Patrol has halted its daily tally of the random vandalism.

After the arrests of two men last week in connection with at least some of the 250 attacks, there have been a few isolated window shatterings but none consistent with the main pattern that began Sept. 11, CHP Officer Rob Lund said.

Charges have not been filed against Jose Soto, 21, and Hugo Hernandez, 22, for their alleged role in the attacks, Lund said. But because of the dwindling numbers of attacks, the CHP believes it is on the right track, he said.

“We arrested two of the right people, although we don’t know how many for sure are out there,” Lund said. “The copycat syndrome exists . . . but they seem to have been deterred by the arrests, realizing that our VAT [Vandal Apprehension Task Force] is making strides and getting closer to the perpetrators.”

Soto and Hernandez are being held on charges that they violated their probation by possessing firearms. The district attorney’s office said it expects to file charges against the pair relating to the freeway incidents as soon as this week.

Since the Oct. 9 arrests, motorists have made only three reports of nighttime window shatterings, all on Friday. There have been a few daytime attacks, Lund said, but the numbers are more consistent with typical vandalism incidents than the rash of crimes that recently have struck the freeways.

“Since cars have been on the highways we’ve had incidents where people throw things at cars,” Lund said. “It’s important not to confuse the typical acts of vandalism, where people are throwing things, with this recent, temporal rash of vandalism where higher-velocity projectiles were used.”

The predominant pattern in the 250 reports of broken rear windows showed that they were shattered one right after the other by fast-moving projectiles along a small portion of a freeway--most likely, investigators said, by a car traveling behind the vehicles. Then, after a brief respite, another group would be hit on a different stretch of freeway nearby.

Another possible reason for the decline in attacks, Lund said, could be the decline in media reports about the incidents. During the height of the attacks at the beginning of this month, reports and theories about the vandalism were printed and aired daily--with some TV and radio broadcasts leading each of their several nightly newscasts with up-to-the-minute tallies of the attacks.

With the arrests, however, came a cycle of fewer attacks and lessened media interest. The CHP had long suspected that news reports fueled the copycats’ cravings for attention, although the agency also hoped that prominent coverage of the arrests would serve as a deterrent.

“We’re hoping the media will leave it alone now,” Lund said. “It seems like we’re heading back to normalcy.”

The task force and an increased number of patrol cars are still being maintained, Lund said, while investigators continue following leads. Lund said the task force continues to receive about 30 calls daily to their tip hotline.