Suspect arrested for allegedly busting windows with metal bearings 

         Police arrested the man who allegedly caused more than $20,000 in damage vandalizing banks, businesses in SLO, and a police station in Morro Bay.

         The man, identified as 26-year-old Joshua Ryan Meissner of Morro Bay, was arrested July 7 in connection with the multiple instances of vandalism and booked into SLO County Jail on $2,500 bond, according to a SLOPD press release.

         Ryan’s alleged spree began June 9, when SLO police responded to reports of multiple broken windows at downtown businesses. The windows at 10 banks and the downtown Apple Store were shattered. Police said they found several metal ball bearings at the scenes and later identified a possible suspect vehicle from security footage.

         On July 1, a SLOPD officer pulled Meissner over. He was driving a vehicle matching the description, but the officer let him go because there wasn’t probable cause to arrest him at the time.

         But on July 7, someone in a vehicle matching the description shot multiple ball bearings through the doors and windows of the Morro Bay Police Department’s headquarters. The same person also shot a bearing at a patrol car, the release stated. Later that day an object was shot through the window of Chase Bank in Morro Bay. A witness saw it and provided police with a suspect description and the vehicle’s license plate number, which was traced back to Meissner, police said.

         Meissner was arrester later that day, after Cuesta College Police stopped his vehicle in San Luis Obispo. Detectives from SLO and Morro Bay police departments searched Meissner’s vehicle, and reportedly found two high-powered wrist slingshots and a bag of 75 to 100 metal ball bearings, according to the press release.