Click the play button on the video window to the right to see the storyFOUNTAIN HILLS, AZ – The parents of two minors arrested for racially provocative crimes committed in Fountain Hills have been cited, according to officials.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced on Friday that the suspect’s parents would be held responsible for their children’s involvement in a racially charged incident that has Fountain Hills residents concerned.
The two juveniles, along with 18-year-old Alex Castellanos, were arrested on September 9 for spray painting hate messages on several vehicles in the area, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
At least a couple hundred people attended a meeting in Fountain Hills Wednesday night where Arpaio announced the arrests and promised that the suspects’ parents would be cited.
Arpaio made good on his word as detectives cited the parents of the two minors for one misdemeanor count of defacing public property, the same charge the two juveniles now face.
According to police, the charge is a Fountain Hills town code enacted several years ago and the parents of both children could now face fines and/or penalties ranging from $100 to $1,000 dollars and/or community service.
An African-American couple hosting an African-American guest from out of town, along with a Jewish woman, were the target of the vandals.
Mike and Michele Jaber said they found a swastika, "KKK" and sexual images painted on the windows of two vehicles Sunday morning.
"There's really no words for the ugliness that was on our vehicles," Michele said. "I was in tears. I was disgusted. I couldn't believe it."
The vandals wrote on the passenger's side window of Classietta Foreman's Cadillac Escalade. Foreman, who lives in Los Angeles, was in Fountain Hills for the Labor Day weekend visiting the Jabers.
"I was disgusted," said Foreman. "I have no words to describe what it's like when you're attacked racially."
A few miles away, vandals left behind another spray painted message of hate, this time at the home of Gloria Simon.
"I was appalled," admitted Simon. "I was frightened. What's next, rocks through my window?"
The vandals wrote the word "JEW" on Simon's car and drew a sexually explicit image.
"That's as bad as burning a cross in my front yard," said Simon, who is Jewish. "It's scary, very scary."
