Homeless man repeatedly vandalizing cars in El Sereno neighborhood, residents say

EL SERENO, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Community members in an El Sereno neighborhood are on edge after several cars were scratched and had windows broken.

Vincent Hernandez says a homeless man who lives in the area has repeatedly vandalized multiple cars in his El Sereno neighborhood.

"That's the only reason we want him out," said Hernandez, who's had his car damaged several times. "People are tired of this. They don't got money to pay for this. They go to work to pay for their house."

Vincent Hernandez Jr. is another frustrated resident who has had his vehicle vandalized.

"We've never had any issues with the vehicles being on the street, so now I can't leave my vehicle out, and it's incurring a cost because I have to go to my insurance company and pay for this," he said. "And this person is just walking around damaging vehicles for no reason."

Hernandez says this has been going on since January and at least 15 cars have been ruined. He says neighbors have banded together to look out for one another. They've filed police reports and even captured the suspect in the act, but they say nothing has been done.

"And we have videos," Hernandez said. "That's what one policeman told me to do anyway - buy cameras. OK, we bought the cameras, we got him on video and now we want something to happen to this person. Get him off the street because everybody's leery."

Hernandez says he and his neighbors have had to make some adjustments, but their quality of life is not the same.

"Nobody wants to leave their car in the street," Hernandez said. "They used to be able to leave their car in the street, just go out, take their families wherever they have to do. And now they gotta stuff their cars up in the driveway, and it's not that easy to get out in the morning."

Police say they are looking into the matter. They encourage all victims to come forward and file police reports. They say with the new video evidence, if they can identify the suspect he will be arrested.