Vandals smash windows of nearly 3 dozen cars in Arlington Mill

Residents of an Arlington community are banding together to help each other in the wake of a string of vandalism. The neighborhood of Arlington Mill in southwest Arlington has been targeted for the last week, and nearly three dozen cars have had their windows smashed out, county police said.

Residents say they’re frustrated, frightened and aggravated that no one has been caught.

Evidence of the damage is everywhere in the neighborhood, with glass all over the road and in the grass. So many cars have been damaged that workers from a local auto glass repair shop came through the neighborhood and stuck their business cards under windshield wipers.

“It’s just frustrating,” Jose Santos said.

He parks his car in a lot where multiple cars have had their windows smashed out.

“They put up signs inside all the buildings, right now, trying to tell people, ‘Hey, leave your belongings at home,’” Santos said.

Police say the first calls came in last week, reporting multiple windows smashed in Arlington Mill, up and down the intersection of 7th Road S. and S. Florida Street.

Then even more cars were damaged late Sunday into Monday.

One witness saw three males and guessed they were between 18 and 24 years old.

Arlington County police say they’ve increased patrols in the neighborhood.

“We’ve had three incidents in the Arlington Mill neighborhood over about the last week, in which suspects broke the windows to about 35 vehicles parked in the neighborhood,” Ashley Savage of the Arlington County Police Department said.

Police say it doesn’t appear anything valuable has been stolen from the cars, but the peace of mind that’s been taken from Arlington Mill is invaluable, and nearly three dozen people have car windows to replace.