ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – An Albuquerque homeowner’s association board member is accused of vandalizing her neighbor’s property with spray paint and when police caught up with her, they say she had some of the evidence on her. This all apparently started over a dispute over HOA dues and when neighbors helped police track the woman down, she admitted it all.
“I think it’s supposed to say, ‘white trash’ and then I don’t know what the bottom- because she kept calling him white trash,” a woman told an officer with the Albuquerque Police Department on April 12 while pointing to her garage covered in red spray paint.
There was also paint on two cars and the front door of the home off Central and Juan Tabo. “We heard a knock on the door,” the woman told police in the lapel video. “My son went to look out the peephole. We said, ‘Did you unlock it?’ He said, ‘No it’s all red.’”
The victims said they don’t know the woman they think left this mess behind, later identified as Alicia Tierney. Other neighbors told police Tierney could have been upset because she had previously been trying to collect payments for the homeowner’s association that they say doesn’t exist.
“We don’t pay dues because there’s no HOA,” one neighbor told police. The police lapel doesn’t clearly show the spray can or red paint on Tierney’s hand, but the victims say the suspect showed up near their home shortly after the incident happened.
“She comes walking by and, ‘What happened? I was out walking my dog’ and she’s carrying a can of spray paint and her hand is completely red,” the victim said.
Neighbors directed police to Tierney at a nearby home. “I’ve been drinking,” Tierney explained.
She was put in cuffs and tried explaining her side of the story. “He always has s**t and I’m a realtor,” Tierney said.
“So you don’t like all the trash in front of the house or…?” the officer asked.
“I don’t!” Tierney replied.
Tierney addressed the red paint. “Oh, I just did that! No, I love it!” she stated.
Then a few minutes later, Tierney asked: “How do you know I damaged his property?”
“There’s multiple things,” the officer began. “First of all, you just told us. Second, the paint can was in the house we found you in and the third thing is you also have paint all over your hands.”
Meanwhile, neighbors tried piecing together the message left on the garage and why.
“Nasty house?” one neighbor asked.
“That makes sense because she was talking about all the stuff in the yard. Nasty house,” the victim responded.
The criminal complaint states Tierney told police that her neighbor refused to pay the HOA. Online records show the HOA is still active and lists Tierney as the director and treasurer, but no updates including annual reports have been posted in more than a year.
Tierney faces two counts of criminal damage to property totaling more than $1,000.
