Suspects broke out more than 30 car windows in west Ames last weekend with BB guns.

Ames Police Cmdr. Randy Kesselsaid all instances were reported Sunday, but some could have occurred prior to that.

“It could have happened over a two day period — people park their cars and leave and don’t check back for awhile,” he said.

Kessel said instances like this have happened before but not any involving this number of cars.

“We have had rashes of this previously. Thirty is certainly a larger amount than we’ve seen in the past,” he said.

Kessel said the suspects could be teenagers or people in early to mid-20s; there is no real profile.

“To do that many cars and in that short amount of time, they had to be old enough to drive and to have a car full of people,” he said.

Ames Police Department Sgt. Brian Braymen said the suspects caused a significant amount of damage, and there wasn’t a pattern to their destruction.

“We’re looking at about $6,000 of damage, and that’s probably a low estimate,” he said.

Kessel said the charges depend on how many windows were attached to any one person and how many people were involved. There could be up to 30 counts of criminal mischief in the fourth degree, a serious misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of $1,000, or only one count of criminal mischief in the second degree, a class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $7,500 fine.

Approximately a month ago, 20 to 25 windows were broken out in Ankeny by three juvenile males, said Ankeny Police Department Lt. Arnie Porath.

Since then they have detained the culprits, who had used sling shots or wrist rockets to propel ball bearings through car windows, he said.

Porath said it’s likely not related to what happened in Ames this weekend.