This story was updated on Jan. 13, 2022 at 6:38pm:
New Braunfels police have arrested a suspect in Tuesday's vandalism of the Comal County Democratic Party Headquarters.
On Thursday, 38-year-old Valerie Jean Riedel of New Braunfels was arrested for Public Intoxication and taken to the Guadalupe County Jail.
Investigators said in a statement that they determined Riedel was responsible for vandalism, based on the clothing she wore when they arrested her for Tuesday's incident, among several other factors. They have issued an arrest warrant charging her with Class A Misdemeanor Criminal Mischief.
The vandal was caught on security camera smashing the front door of the central Texas building.
"We think it’s a shame that they think they had to resort to this to make a point because we certainly can discuss things in a civil way,” Democrats of Comal County Spokesperson Stacey Osborne told TPR on Tuesday.
The video shows the woman hitting the front door with a shovel and cracking the glass door. Osborne said this incident is rattling the nerves of the Democrats but they are not giving up.
“We have a lot of work to do," she said. "It’s an election year and a lot of things are happening. But we’re absolutely going to continue the work that we are doing. We are disappointed more than anything.”
If the vandalism is determined to be politically motivated, it could be considered voter intimidation — which is a felony punishable by up to one year in prison.
