Crimewatch

KENDALL (CBS4) ― Two 17-year-old Kendall boys are now charged by Miami-Dade Police with vandalism at the Islamic School of Miami, breaking two hurricane-proof windows and slashing two tires on a van.

Police say the teens gave a written confession and said they had been planning this crime for months, adding that they believed that all Muslims are terrorists. They said they wore black clothing while committing the crime this past weekend.

They told police they had intended to spray paint some profanity about Muslims on the building, but their spray paint can was missing a nozzle. So they broke the windows instead. They said each one of them slashed one tire on a white dodge van.

In a CBS4 Exclusive, the mother of one suspect, Michael Derek Lobo, says her son is a "good kid." When she asked us about the charges, she told us, "Only time will tell. That's all I can say. I believe in God and trust God in everything."

Lobo is a student at Westwood Christian School and his mother says religion is an important part of their life. "This is unlike anything Michael has done before?" we asked.

"Never," she said. We asked her what her reaction was after learning of the charges. "It was hard, really hard," she said. We asked her how her family was going to deal with the accusations and she said her faith would help her loved ones deal with this case.

Lobo's mother declined to give us her first name.

Lobo and Juan Carlos Gonzalez-Vaca, who lives just blocks away, are charged with criminal mischief to a Mosque, wearing a mask to commit an offense and evidencing or showing prejudice while committing an offense. Those charges are felonies and the charge involving "prejudice" could also make this a hate crime, say police. That would enhance the penalties in this case if the teens are convicted.

Police say Gonzalez-Vaca is a student at Killian Senior High School. When we knocked on his parent's front door, an unidentified person came to the door, opened it and said neither Gonzalez-Vaca nor his parents were at home. She said she did not know anything else.

Police say the teens were arrested following a tip to Miami-Dade Crimestoppers. Miami-Dade Police spokeswoman Aida Fina-Millian said authorities find this case particularly disturbing.

"Everyone should feel free to practice their religion without any fear of a criminal act against them," she said. 

The arrests are what many at the Islamic School of Miami and Masjid Alnoor Mosque had prayed for. The head of the Islamic School, Imam Mohammed Zakaria, told us, "It's a relief. But it is sad also that these teens hate Muslims."

He said, "We are law-abiding citizens living here, like most all of us in our cities in this country." When we told him about the call to Crimestoppers, he said, "We are very thankful for whoever called."

That was echoed by other Mosque members, including Khan Tasneen, who said, "It is great that people are very alert." Another member, Imtiaz Mohammad, said, "It's good to stop these people. It means that security is much better."

It was just this past January that someone fired bullets from a high-powered weapon at the outside of the Mosque. You can still see the bullet marks on the Mosque. It's a disturbing visual reminder of what others say was another hate crime here. They say the F.B.I. is involved with the investigation of that crime, which is still unsolved.

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