TULSA - A former University of Tulsa football playerand two of his former teammates from Jenks High School are facing a list of criminal charges in connection with a vandalism spree in Jenks and south Tulsa.
In one night last month, vandals hit eleven vehicles in that area. In some cases it cost the owners more than a thousand dollars to repair the damage. Police say surveillance video was the key to solving this case.
In the early morning hours August 6, a surveillance camera in a Jenks subdivision captured this image of a man stabbing the tires of a truck with a large knife. This was one of nearly a dozen reports of slashed tires and broken vehicle windows. Jenks police didn't have many leads on identifying the man, until they released the video.
"Literally, within about 30 minutes we started getting phone calls with names,” said Jenks Det. Michael Gaulden. “We had multiple phone calls identified one of the suspects accurately."
Jenks police identified the man as Zachary Webb, a former football player for Jenks and the University of Tulsa. He was cut from the team in January after campus security found a gun and drugs in his apartment.
He is charged with 15 counts of malicious injury to property along, along with his former Jenks teammates Aaron Farris and Logan Prince.
"One of them had an ex-girlfriend he was upset with,” explained Gaulden. "They said they originally intended to get her back. It just blossomed into targeting random vehicles in Tulsa and Jenks."
"It's cool to hear that the people responsible for this caught,” said Chase Kim.
His car was one the vehicles that was hit. The windshield was smashed and the tires were slashed.
"It's really disappointing to hear they're about my same age,” says Kim. "They had their whole lives in front of them, and they screwed it up by making one mistake."
"People were patrolling at nighttime, along with police ... just trying to find out who it was,” said John Ensing. "Because they thought, well maybe they'll come back and try to do it some more."
Ensing says people in his neighborhood are relieved the search for the suspects is over and now justice can take its course.
He told 2 Works for You, "I think the TU player needs to sit it a cell a while and think about things. Hopefully turn his life around. That would be a blessing."
Police say the victims will be eligible for restitution. They tell us all the suspects live in the area where the crimes occurred.
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