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$180,000 TEEN RAMPAGE
Carpets set on fire, four $400,000+ homes trashed
Homes Trashed DSC 2088
Shattered windows are covered with plastic covering to keep the rain out. - photo by GLENN KAHL/The Bulletin

Two teens trashed four new homes being readied for buyers Saturday causing more than $180,000 in damage.
The homes, valued at over $400,000 each, are in the Atherton Homes development east of Pillsbury Road and south of Woodward Avenue. Manteca Police arrested two 15-year-old boys in connection with the six-figure vandalism.
The homes are in the 2500 block of Juliana Way and 1300 block of Mirassou Drive.
One home had windows broken out, cabinet doors ripped off, and chandeliers torn from the ceilings. The carpet in one home was set on fire. Drawers in the kitchen were pulled off their sliders and thrown through the rear windows breaking out 13 windows.  The fire alerted either the alarm company or neighbors who called 911. Police responded setting up a perimeter of officers around the new residential area.
One of the youths got away but the second was apprehended in a nearby almond orchard, police said.
The second youth was later located at his home nearby. They were able to track down the youth after the teens had reportedly charred the end of a 6-foot wooden closet pole from the flames of a dining room carpet fire they had allegedly set and had written their address into the carpet giving police cause to drive to that general address. A witness had also reported the youth’s direction of flight after police and firefighters arrived on the scene.
The contractor’s job superintendent said Monday that when he and his crew came in Sunday morning for the cleanup there was glass strewn about everywhere throughout the structures.  
A large refrigerator in one of the kitchens had its door sprung and warped so bad that it wouldn’t close and had to be replaced.  Smaller hanging chandeliers over the kitchen island were believed to have been broken out by the wooden pole. A six-foot diameter ceiling fan in the home was also damaged beyond repair.   
Evidence and information obtained by investigating officers indicated there are additional suspects still at large in the vandalism cases, according to the police report.  
One of the boys was sent to Mary Graham Juvenile Hall and the other was released to his parents on a citation, police said.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Manteca Police Department at 209-456-8101.

To contact Glenn Kahl, email gkahl@mantecabulletin.com.