By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
Three local teenagers were charged last week with several counts of gang-related vandalism in the southeast section of Alamance County.
According to the Alamance County Sheriff’s Department, investigation of the incidents indicated a possible ongoing conflict between alleged gang members from Carrboro and Alamance County.
The defendants – 17-year-old Ezequiel Hernandez of Carrboro, 18-year-old Juan Franciso Perez of Chapel Hill and 16-year-old Jesus Jauregui Perez of Carrboro – were charged with spraying gang-related graffiti on a Southern Alamance High School bus and on other property located in southeast Alamance County. They were also charged with littering more than 15 pounds.
The graffiti in the investigation was BPL, which stands for Brown Pride Locos, and GTO, an abbreviation for Guanajuato, a state in Mexico.
The Carrboro Police Department assisted Alamance with the investigation. Carrboro has also been investigating recent graffiti of the initials LBU around the Carrboro area, but it is unclear whether the incidents are related, according to Captain Joel Booker of the Carrboro Police.
Booker said Carrboro police first became aware of the alleged gang conflict after Alamance officials informed them of incidents around Southern Alamance High. The defendants were students at Chapel Hill High School, but have since stopped attending.
The defendants are also being investigated by the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office and the Interstate Crime Enforcement Unit because of their alleged illegal alien status in the United Status, according to the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office.