ARLINGTON, Texas — Authorities are looking for the people who spray-painted racist words and vulgar images on cars parked across Arlington.
In an update Sunday, police said they determined that 17 vehicles in total were vandalized between Friday night and Saturday morning.
According to police, investigators believe the incidents were random and not targeted at certain victims.
Police are reviewing security video that might've captured at least two of the incidents. In each case, footage shows a group of people getting out of what appears to be the same white minivan.
"The first thing I felt was disbelief or shock," Dexter Smith said. "After that shock, I got angry."
Smith shared photos of two vehicles parked outside his home, each with disparaging words and imagery painted on them.
"I just shook my head," he said. "I couldn't believe it."
Not all of the victims are Black like Smith, though he said he couldn't ignore the criminals' racist vocabulary.
"You can't be writing that on the hood of someone's car," he said. "They got a thing called a 'hate crime' now."
Here are the details from four of the incidents:
- 5:10 a.m. – Officers responded to a home in the 2300 block of East Timberview Lane. A man staying at the house came outside to find someone had spray-painted racist and vulgar phrases and images on his vehicle overnight.
- 5:15 a.m. – Officers also responded to a home in the 5500 block of Safari Trail where two vehicles parked outside had been tagged with similar racist / vulgar phrases and images.
- 6:35 a.m. – Officers responded to the 900 block of Moorhead Court where they found two vehicles at two different homes that had been tagged with vulgar phrases.
- 10:30 a.m. – Officers responded to the 5500 block of Four Winds Drive, where they found one vehicle that had been spray painted with racist and vulgar messages.
These are some of the photos sent to WFAA:
Five homes police responded to were within four miles of each other. Timberview Lane and Moorhead Court, in particular, are under two miles apart. Safari Trail and Four Winds Drive are a quarter-mile away from each other.
Arlington police said there have not been any arrests made. They ask anyone who live in those areas to check their surveillance footage and call their non-emergency dispatch at (817)274-4444 if their cameras captured anything.
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