Shooting spree ends with arrests

By ANDREW McGINN
a.mcginn@beeherald.com
A two-week BB-gun shooting spree that left Grand Junction residents fearing for their car and home windows ended Monday with the arrests of two teenagers.

Jacob Vreugdenhil, 17, and Dylan Lansman, 17, both of Grand Junction, were arrested on charges of felony criminal mischief.

Greene County sheriff’s deputies believe the teens shot out windows of 14 vehicles and four residences with an assault rifle-style BB gun beginning Dec. 23.

Damages are estimated at more than $10,000, Chief Deputy Jack Williams said Tuesday.

Vreugdenhil also was arrested on a charge of felony burglary.

He reportedly broke into 606 E. Main St. in Grand Junction on Dec. 28 and took a TV, the resident’s purse and a change jar, Williams said.

The home’s elderly resident was asleep at the time, Williams said.

Vreugdenhil and Lansman have been taken to the state juvenile facility in Eldora.

A warrant also was issued for Joshua Blumberg, 18, of Grand Junction, for allegedly aiding in the criminal mischief.

It was Blumberg, Williams said, who eventually gave up Vreugdenhil and Lansman to deputies.

“They were just out driving around and decided to start shooting windows,” Williams said.

In the early morning hours of Dec. 28, they allegedly even took aim at a deputy’s patrol vehicle parked in the 400 block of East Main, shattering its rear window.

On Jan. 1, the sheriff’s office executed two search warrants in Grand Junction that reportedly recovered evidence from the crimes.

Deputies recovered stolen property and also found matching BBs, Williams said.

“They had gotten rid of the BB gun before we got there,” Williams said.

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