Altamonte Springs woman arrested after feces vandalism in Spring Oaks neighborhood

A week of feces-smeared vandalism in Spring Oaks left Altamonte Springs neighbors cleaning vehicles, checking mailboxes and watching their yards with growing concern before police arrested a 50-year-old woman Tuesday morning.

Altamonte Springs police said Alexis Weber was taken into custody April 29 on a criminal mischief charge after being linked to at least one of the incidents in the neighborhood. Residents said the strange pattern had stretched across nearly a week, with human feces found on vehicles, mailboxes and in yards, turning an ordinary residential problem into a public nuisance that spread from one property to the next.

One of the first homeowners to alert police was Ivette Gomez, who said her family called authorities Thursday, April 23, after finding feces smeared along the driver’s side of her husband’s work van. Gomez said surveillance video appeared to show a person matching Weber’s description near the vehicle. By the weekend, residents reported more feces near a shared food pantry, adding another layer of discomfort in a neighborhood where people rely on shared spaces and regular routines.

Police said the case moved forward after a detective witnessed Weber defecating in the front yard of her home early Tuesday. Investigators then placed her under arrest in connection with the vehicle incident. The arrest came after neighbors had worked together to document what was happening and bring it to law enforcement, said Spring Oaks Homeowners Association Vice President John Battle.

The Spring Oaks HOA describes itself as a voluntary organization, with 2026 dues set at $30 a year. Directory listings say the association dates to 1973, underscoring how long the neighborhood has existed around the same basic expectation of safe, orderly living in one of Seminole County’s most visible suburban communities.

Altamonte Springs had 46,231 residents in the 2020 census and an estimated population of 47,261 on July 1, 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. City officials describe Altamonte Springs as a suburban community focused on maintaining quality of life, and incidents like this one test that promise in a very direct way, not just through the bizarre nature of the vandalism but through the unease it leaves behind for the people who live there. No one at the home where police said Weber was arrested responded Tuesday.