WINONA LAKE - Local officers believe they have found the person responsible for shooting out the windows of several businesses and vehicles over the past couple of weeks.
Victor Calderon Bustos, 24, of 518 Chinworth Court, Warsaw, was arrested for criminal mischief and driving while intoxicated around 6:40 a.m. Saturday. His bond was set at $2,000.
Around 3:24 a.m. Saturday, officers from Winona Lake responded to a call about a suspicious vehicle, and then found a parked vehicle with damage to the rear passenger window, possibly from a pellet gun.
While officers from the Warsaw Police Department and Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department helped search for it, Winona Lake Officer Joe Bumbaugh saw a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle.
The vehicle was leaving the parking lot of Sherman & Lin's Bargain Barn on Winona Avenue, when Bumbaugh saw a vehicle parked in the lot with "substantial damage" to its windows.
Bumbaugh initiated a traffic stop, and noticed the suspicious vehicle had glass fragments both inside and outside as well as a Crossman C02-powered BB gun.
Bustos and his 16-year-old juvenile passenger were taken into custody. Bustos' passenger was interview by police and then released.Police suspect that Bustos is responsible for a string of window shootings in Winona Lake and Warsaw that occurred in the early morning of Oct. 12 as well as early Saturday morning. The estimated damage from the shootings is around $20,000.
The incidents remain under investigation, and more arrests are possible.
