Teen arrested, allegedly concealed car with racist remarks on it in Centerville
A teenager was arrested Tuesday in connection to a spray painted car with racist and lewd remarks on it in Houston County, but he wasn’t charged with a hate crime or vandalism, according to the Centerville Police Department.
The 17-year-old allegedly tried to conceal the identity of a car that had swastikas and racist slurs spray painted on it, Chief Cedric Duncan told The Telegraph.
The car belonged to him, but “the license plate belonged to someone he knew,” Duncan said. Flock cameras previously spotted the license plate on different vehicles, he said.
The teen was charged with removing and affixing a license plate with the intent to conceal or misrepresent the vehicle’s identity, and driving a vehicle with suspended, canceled or revoked registration, a Facebook post from the police department said.
Officers were still investigating Thursday if he or another suspect could face additional charges in connection to painting swastikas and racial slurs on the car, Duncan said.
“The spray painted part is something we’re still dealing with,” Duncan said. “I just got to figure out what can I put on him because we’re not dealing with the hate crime part.”
Another suspect “probably assisted him,” Duncan said. The other suspect was not arrested by Thursday morning, he said.
The Houston County Sheriff’s Office’s Warrant Division arrested the 17-year-old at his home Tuesday, and took him to the Houston County Detention Center. He was released the next day, according to the jail’s detainee log.
A judge set a bond of $880 for allegedly concealing the vehicle’s identity, and a bond of $180 for allegedly driving with an expired registration, the detainee log said.
Photos of the vehicle surfaced on Facebook over the weekend, which helped law enforcement find the teen.
“This incident was investigated as a collaborative effort with our local law enforcement agencies in Middle Georgia,” Duncan said on Facebook. “The overwhelming amount of information that was provided by the public was critical in identifying this subject.”
The case was still under investigation Thursday morning.
Officers urged anyone with related information to call the police department at 478-953-4222.