THE LOUD CRASH WAS STARTLING.

Carmen Ortiz and her family had been going about their normal routine the morning of June 15. Suddenly, the sounds

The Victim: Carmen Ortiz

The Crime: Criminal mischief

Date: Friday, June 15

Time: 8 a.m.

Location: 9600 block of Rolling Rock of shattering glass came from the patio area of their home. Ortiz’s husband found a plant pot had been thrown into the patio area and had broken on their concrete floor. A bottle of nail polish also had been thrown, and the red polish was everywhere, mixed with shards of pottery that littered the area.

“It was all over the floor,” she says. “It was scary.”

The event was quite a nuisance and a pain to clean up, the family says. And while the crime did not injure anyone and seems minor, it left them unnerved.

Police suspect kids are at the heart of the problem and that they possibly have some perceived vendetta against the family that Ortiz may not even know about.

Dallas Police Sgt. Keitric Jones of the Northeast Patrol Division saysno suspects have been found at this time.

“It is possible that this was a random act by juveniles in the area, but with no witness or workable leads it is hard to be sure,” he says.

Police will continue to investigate and respond to further incidences.

Chaffin is a freelance writer and author of “Raising the Stakes”, obtainable at raisingthestakesbook.com. If you have been a recent crime victim, email crime@advocatemag.com.

CRIME NUMBERS |

The asking price that a Lake Highlands woman listed when trying to sell her baby via an online newspaper ad; she was arrested June 21 at her apartment in the 9700 block of Ferris Branch where she had left the baby alone in a crib

Number of suspects involved in an aggravated assault against a woman at an apartment complex in the 11600 block of Audelia

Date when someone intentionally set fire to a second-floor apartment in the 9400 block of Royal; the female suspect admitted to the crime, saying she has mental problems, and was arrested and taken to Green Oaks Hospital

SOURCE: Dallas Police Department