The last of the five suspects believed to have spray-painted hateful graffiti including anti-gay slurs on more than a dozen residences June 10 was arrested by Arlington police Monday.
Morgen Rae Aubuchon, whose turned 18 on Tuesday, was arrested Monday on a warrant, police spokeswoman Tiara Richard told Instant Tea. Aubuchon is still in custody in the Arlington jail on a $1,500 bond.
John Austin Cartwright, 17, reported to the Tarrant County Jail last Thursday night, while 18-year-old Seth Stephen Hatcher turned himself in early Friday. Tarrant County sheriff’s spokesman Tom Pierson said Cartwright was released on a $1,500 bond, but while a record of Hatcher exists, a mug shot could not be found in the system.
Seth Stephen Hatcher
Spokesman Jerry Rucker with TCSO records found Hatcher’s mug shot, which had been entered under a last name of Hutcher.
Daniel Sibley, 18, was arrested last Tuesday, and a juvenile female turned herself in to Arlington police last Wednesday night before being turned over to Tarrant County juvenile detention, Richard said.
Two surveillance cameras on residences captured several teens spray-painting derogatory images and words on homes and cars in a total of 13 incidents on June 10. The second video captured the vehicle information and led to the identification of five teens ages 16-18.
The incidents included one in which the words “queers” and “faggot” were spray-painted on a lesbian couple’s SUV. The teens reportedly saw a sticker on the SUV featuring two female caricatures with a child and pet — and assumed they were gay before vandalizing the vehicle.
Police said at a press conference last week that all suspects will be charged with the state jail felony of criminal mischief for damage ranging from $1,500-$20,000, police said. The punishment for a state jail felony is 180 days to two years in jail and up to a $10,000 fine. If the classification is enhanced by the hate crime statute to a third-degree felony, the teens could face two to 10 years behind bars in addition to the fine.
If you are 17 or 18, you are not a child. You are an adult. Adults do not behave in this fashion, and as a result these “children” (a fitting description because they apparently still need to grow up) should have known better. They also deserve whatever punishment the justice system bestows upon them. If they are convicted and these criminal convictions end up ruining their lives, well perhaps they should have considered that before they went out and committed the crimes. And perhaps the parents should take a serious look at how their kids turned out and determine what they need to be doing (or should have done) differently as far as their parenting skills are concerned.