Broward Police Looking For Suspected Bus Vandal

Police are searching for a man who allegedly smashed the window of a county bus earlier this month in Lauderdale Lakes.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office said a bus picked up a man wearing a Santa hat and a red Adidas sweat suit with white stripes just before noon Nov. 18 near Northwest 16th Street and U.S. 441.

The bus driver asked the man in the Santa hat and his friend to stop using profanity, but they would not stop, police said.

When the man in the Santa hat got off the bus in the 2600 block of Northwest 49th Avenue, police said, he picked up a rock and threw it at the bus, hitting the passenger side of the windshield.

Criminal mischief is the formal name for "vandalism" in the State of Florida. Criminal mischief can be charged one of three ways: a second-degree misdemeanor, a first-degree misdemeanor, or a third-degree felony.

In terms of whether the offense is a misdemeanor or a felony, criminal mischief depends on the value of the property damage. $0 - $199 (under $200) is a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail. $200 - $999 is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 1 year in jail. Over $1000 in damage and the crime becomes a felony.

Restitution is almost always a part of a resolution to a criminal mischief case.