3rd Arrest in Cemetery Vandalism
Police arrested a third teenager Tuesday in connection with a vandalism incident in which he and two other teenagers allegedly opened graves and propped up the mummified remains of a woman and put a cigarette in her mouth at Verdugo Hills Cemetery.
LAPD Lt. Joseph Garcia of the Foothill Division said the three 14-year-olds, two boys and a girl, belong to a loosely organized group called the “Gothics,” which is based mainly at Verdugo Hills High School.
Garcia said the teenagers, all Tujunga residents, are part of a loosely organized group of students who dress mainly in black clothing, paint their faces with white makeup and dabble in the occult. Officers said they believe the teens opened eight crypts, removing seven of the caskets, sometime around Halloween.
One boy and the girl were arrested last week; all three have been released to their parents. Each faces one misdemeanor charge of vandalism.
Garcia said officers are still searching for a fourth suspect in the incident.
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