HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT Graffiti that had defaced a historical mural on the side of the school offices at West and Wilson streets was erased by artist Andrew Sabori. A juvenile suspect in the case was arrested and reportedly has confessed. Advertisement

The sheriff's office has arrested a 17-year-old juvenile for allegedly vandalizing the school district office and a number of buildings in the area with graffiti.

The juvenile was arrested Friday, Dec. 28 after a week-long investigation.

The suspect was booked on charges of vandalizing the Nye County School District office and Pathways School, both located on Wilson Road and West Street, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and the China Wok restaurant on Dahlia Street.

The first report of vandalism came Saturday, Dec. 22, at the Nye County School District Office, where a historical mural being painted by Andrew Sabori and several local students had been marked up.

Several county road signs in the area had also been tagged.

According to a sheriff's office press release, deputies who reported to the scene stopped two juveniles who were in the area and questioned them about the graffiti.

Both of the juveniles reportedly said they had nothing to do with the tagging and had not seen anyone else in the area.

The next day, at about 5:52 a.m., deputies were dispatched to the same area for reports of yet more spray-painted vandalism.

When the officers arrived, they found more tagging on the school district office, Pathways school, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Family History Center, which the sheriff's office press release described as "completely encompassed with graffiti."

The deputies continued to attempt to locate the juveniles they had initially spoken to after the first incident.

One of the juvenile's parents told deputies they did not know where their son was and that he had been missing for several days.

The juvenile was located at 3:46 a.m. last Friday at the residence of someone who was not the suspect's legal guardian.

He was arrested for curfew violation and child in need of supervision.

The sheriff's office reported he was questioned about the graffiti, "resulting in his confession of being the perpetrator," the press release stated.

He was booked on three counts of damage of property used for the purpose of religion, community center, and for education, four counts of placing graffiti on or otherwise defacing property, curfew violation, and child in need of supervision.