Matthew Baptista, 18, of San
Jose.
(ABC7)
|
Matthew Baptista, 18, of San Jose, and an
unidentified 17-year-old male were arrested this morning after a
joint investigation by the San Jose police and Santa Clara County
Sheriff's office, San Jose police Sgt. Nick Muyo reported.
Eight swastikas and one racial slur were
discovered on the lawns of nine Cypress Avenue homes between May 18
and May 21, according to Muyo. Each of the symbols had been
chemically burned onto the grass.
Seven of the cases fell under the Santa Clara
County Sheriff's jurisdiction and two were in San Jose police's
jurisdiction, Muyo reported.
Baptista was booked into the Santa Clara
County Main Jail, according to Muyo. The juvenile was booked into
Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall. Both were charged with hate crime
vandalism.
Anyone with information about the incidents is
urged to call Detective Sgt. Hayward Brandon or Detective Jose Uribe
of the San Jose Police Department's Juvenile Unit at (408) 277-4161.
People can also contact Detective Robert Bosworth at (408) 868-6632
or Sgt. Janet Shannon at (408) 808-4500 of the Santa Clara County
Sheriff's office. Informants who wish to remain anonymous can
contact the Crime Stoppers line at (408) 947-STOP.