Man Arrested After Being Caught Vandalizing 2nd Police Cruiser

Hector Pacheco | MCPD

A 24-year-old Silver Spring man has been charged with vandalizing a marked police cruiser, Montgomery County police said.

Hector A. Pacheco, 24, of the 12300 block of Barbara Road in Silver Spring, faces destruction of property, assault and resisting arrest charges after he was seen vandalizing a marked police vehicle in Gaithersburg, Montgomery County police said.

Montgomery Village police district detectives also charged Pacheco with the June 6 vandalism to a marked Montgomery County police vehicle, which also occurred in Gaithersburg, police said.

About 3:30 Monday, an off-duty police officer who was in the area of the 9800 block of Washingtonian Boulevard, was notified by a resident that a man was using a rock to break the passenger side window of a nearby police cruiser, police said.

Witnesses, who had provided a description of the man, reported that he had walked toward a nearby shopping center.  The off-duty officer found the suspect inside a nearby department store, police said.

The officer identified himself and the suspect fled and tried to exit the store, police said.

On-duty officers, who had responded to assist the off-duty officer, found the man at the entrance to the store and tried to take him into custody, police said. The suspect, now identified as Pacheco, assaulted three on-duty officers before he was eventually taken into custody, police said. The three officers who were assaulted suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene.

Pacheco was charged with two counts of destruction of property, resisting arrest and three counts of second-degree assault, police said. He was released after posting a $5,000 bail.

Here’s the video from the June 6 vandalism:

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