The front two tires of junior Diego Segura-Hernandez’s car, parked near the tennis courts, were slashed between lunch and the end of seventh period of Thursday, August 30. The event occurred two days after the slashing of all four tires on a male senior’s car parked in the same area during the school day on Tuesday, August 28.

Those responsible had not been caught as of August 31, but Diego said Assistant Principal Cristy Dawson told him that evidence leads to some students from Alta Vista High School in Mountain View.

“Two days before, one of them came up to me and started asking if I was in a gang, and then I responded no to him and argument,” Diego said.

Diego said he is a friend of the senior whose tires were slashed two days before his own. The senior could not be reached for comment or to consent to the release of his name.

According to another friend of the senior whose tires were slashed on Tuesday, a student who wished to remain anonymous, he and his friends believe the school’s students are behind the vandalism. He said a fight started during seventh period Tuesday, right after the damage was discovered.

“We were at Ely’s auto shop looking at the car,” the student said. “Then the kids that [we think] did it, we saw them walk past and my friend [name withheld] asked them which one of them did it, then next thing we know one of the bigger guys starts yelling and wants problems when we don’t want it.”

Auto shop teacher Greg Ely said he was with the vandalism victim and his friends at the back of the school on Tuesday trying to move the damaged vehicle into the auto shop garage when the conflict arose. However, he said neither group of students was wholly responsible for starting the fight and described the instigation as “pretty equal” on both sides.

He and security guard Ron Nelson held the two boys away from each other with the help of the two students’ friends.

The anonymous did not know why his friend’s car was targeted.

“That part, don’t know,” he said. “Can’t really say. All I can say is just day-to-day things happen every day up in the city.”

A vandalism report was filed with the Los Altos Police Department and the issue is now w is in their hands.

“It makes me very cross,” Principal Wynne Satterwhite said. “The bottom line is, it’s not acceptable, and we are going to do everything we can to find out who’s doing it and put an end to it.”