http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_16195610
Woman arrested at Valley Fair on suspicion of vandalizing luxury cars
By Mark Gomez
[email protected]
Posted: 09/28/2010 10:17:50 AM PDT
Updated: 09/28/2010 10:22:50 PM PDT
A San Jose woman who police say has been vandalizing luxury cars such as BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes across Santa Clara and Alameda counties was arrested Saturday for the seventh time since June, this time in a parking lot at Westfield Valley Fair mall.
Nancy Chi Ni, 30, was arrested by San Jose police on suspicion of vandalizing a 1999 black Mercedes-Benz E-320, a 2007 silver BMW 335 and a 2007 silver Honda CRV at Valley Fair, according to Officer Jose Garcia, a San Jose Police Department spokesman.
According to police reports, Ni drives a 2009 black BMW. In a few of the cases, officers said they located a sharp pair of scissors in Ni's purse.
Ni, who was out on bail at the time of her most recent arrest, was booked into county jail on suspicion of three counts of vandalism and one count of committing a felony while out on bail, Garcia said.
Ni remains in custody on $1 million bail, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office has charged Ni in five separate cases stemming from similar incidents in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Milpitas. Prosecutors are accusing Ni of vandalizing 13 cars in Santa Clara County, though several law enforcement agencies say they have received numerous reports of luxury cars being vandalized with the same M.O.
Ni also has one case in Alameda County, stemming from an arrest in Pleasanton.
According to court records, Ni has two separate attorneys handling her cases. Richard Wingerden did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Ed Ajlouny, who said he is representing Ni on one of the cases, declined to comment.
In one case, a victim told police she was sitting inside her car when Ni allegedly scratched it. In another case, police say Ni told officers she scratched the car because the owner stole money and damaged her car.
Authorities say Ni told police she works as a masseuse and the car belonged to a client.
On Sept. 16, Ni was arrested in Milpitas after an officer reported seeing her scratch the side of a parked Mercedes-Benz in the McCarthy Ranch shopping center, according to Milpitas police Sgt. Daryl Sequeira.
The officer first spotted Ni acting suspiciously around another Mercedes-Benz, which had been vandalized in the same manner, according to police.
At the time of her arrest in Milpitas, Ni was out on bail following an arrest for a similar offense, according to law enforcement officials.
Ni was arrested in Pleasanton on Aug. 26 on suspicion of vandalizing cars near Stoneridge mall, according to police Sgt. Jim Knox. Pleasanton police have received numerous reports of damaged Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs in parking lots of a hotel and health club near Stoneridge, Knox said.
In 2006, Ni pleaded no contest to one count of agreeing to engage in an act of prostitution by directing an officer to remove his clothes, according to court records.
