WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville
The teens responsible for seven incidents of racial and bigoted graffiti in Gainesville yesterday are facing more charges.
[audio:http://www.wuft.org/news/files/2012/04/VALURI3.mp3]Gainesville Police Department Corporal Angelina Valuri says the suspects, arrested yesterday, will not face hate related charges because the graffiti did not seem to target any of the area residents. She says the motive instead appears to be boredom on behalf of those responsible. The very graffiti which has the teens in trouble with the law helped investigators track the offenders down.
[audio:http://www.wuft.org/news/files/2012/04/VALURI7.mp3]The three teens, who live in the Blue Creek area of Gainesville, are facing 11 counts of vandalism and two counts of burglary. A fourth group member helped identify those responsible but did not participate in the vandalism. The fifth member of the group was not present.
