School felony shooting vandals arrested

Arcadia Police have tracked down and arrested two adult teens who shot out 31 windows with BB guns at Dana Middle School and adjacent Joint-Use Dana Gymnasium. The pair have been charged with three felony counts each for shooting a BB gun at a passing motorist, possessing a weapon on a school campus, and vandalizing 31 windows at the school, which caused $22,000 of damage, according to Arcadia Police.

The 18-year-olds were arrested by Arcadia Police officers Monday night (July 8) about 9 p.m. on the grounds of Longley Way Elementary School, located at 2601 Longley Way Avenue, Arcadia. Jacob C. Moreno, of Temple City, and Albert J. Lewis, of Arcadia, were both charged by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office with felony counts of Assault Likely to Produce Great Bodily Injury, Vandalism, and Possessing a Weapon on School Grounds, with the bail set at $50,000.00 for each.

Officers had been called to the area after a projectile struck the driver’s door of a car being driven eastbound on Las Tunas Drive adjacent to the school. The female driver stopped the car and saw the damage appeared to be from a BB or pellet and called the police. Officers arrived and contacted two males on the Longley Way campus. The men were in possession of a BB gun and packages of BBs. The pair told officers they had been shooting at a bottle and denied aiming at the driver or car. A bottle was found, however, evidence led officers to believe the shooting of the car was intentional. The suspects were arrested and booked at the Arcadia City Jail.

While conducting this investigation, officers saw the type of BBs used to be consistent with BBs found at the scene of an extensive vandalism case on June 26, 2013. Thirty-one (31) windows had been shot out with BBs throughout the campus of Dana Middle School, 1401 S. First Avenue, Arcadia, during the evening hours of June 25, 2013. Damage was discovered by a custodian and is estimated to be in excess of $22,000.00. Follow-up investigation and interviews determined the two suspects in-custody were responsible for the vandalism of Dana Middle School.