FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ From skateboarding on the hood of a police car to swiping items off the shelves at Target, Zachary Cruz, the now-jailed younger brother of Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz, had earlier run-ins with Coral Springs police, records released Wednesday show.
Zachary Cruz, 18, is in custody on a $500,000 bond after he was arrested for trespassing at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas campus after school hours Monday.
Nikolas Cruz, 19, is accused of killing 17 people and injuring 17 more at the school on Valentine's Day and faces the death penalty.
Zachary Cruz was a 10th-grader in July 2016 when police were called to an Office Depot because he had been skateboarding on a Crown Victoria police car, causing dents and scratches and $750 worth of damage.
He told the officer he was just bored and was charged with criminal mischief.
Officers noted in the report he was "continually disrespectful to the police on scene." When his mother arrived, she asked him why he did that and he responded, "Because I don't have anything else to do."
The skateboarding incident happened in the Magnolia Shoppes, the same Coral Springs plaza where Nikolas Cruz later took a job working at the Dollar Tree store.
In August 2016, while Zachary Cruz was still in a juvenile diversion program, he was arrested again after a Target loss prevention guard identified him as a shoplifter. Police said he skateboarded to the store and left with two headsets and an Xbox controller that he stuffed inside a red backpack. The stolen merchandise was worth $219.89.
Police said charges for grand theft were forwarded to prosecutors. The outcome in either case was not immediately available.
Authorities involuntarily hospitalized Zachary Cruz for a mental health evaluation under the state's Baker Act, according to a sheriff's news release, after he admitted to police Monday that he rode his skateboard onto the campus, ignoring orders to stay away from the school, to reflect on what his brother had done, according to an arrest report.
Deputies said one reason they are concerned with Zachary Cruz, according to the petition, is that they asked him his plans for the future and he responded, "I don't know right now." Prosecutors said Cruz's visit left the Stoneman Douglas community in fear, and "have again been terrorized."
