GRIFFITH | Four 16-year-old Griffith girls who admitted spray painting 33 cars over two days were arrested Wednesday night after they were chased and surrounded by some of their victims, police said.

Matthew Alvarez told police he and some friends were at his house in the 500 block of Reuth Drive when they spotted the girls painting words and pictures on vehicles in the neighborhood. Their cars were included in the spree.

They first chased the girls on foot, and when the girls got into their car, Alvarez and friends followed suit, chasing them in their vehicles.

They chased the car through streets and alleys, temporarily losing them. They caught up with the girls again in the 1200 block of West Elm Place, where they blocked and surrounded the Ford Explorer in which the girls were riding.

A resident who lived nearby and had seen the group congregating in the street called police.

When police arrived about 11:43 p.m., only the driver was still in the Explorer.

Officers found red paint on the driver's legs and shirt and an open container of red Glass Chalk temporary paint, which is water soluble.

The driver was taken to the police station. She identified the other three girls who were with her and they, with their parents, came to the police station. They admitted to defacing 33 cars Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

"They took responsibility for it," Lt. Don McCarter said Thursday.

"They hit a specific subdivision last night (Wednesday)," McCarter said. That subdivision was Woodland Estates. They hit the central part of Griffith on Tuesday, McCarter said.

They started their painting spree with white Glass Chalk until they ran out and switched to red, McCarter said.

The girls said they knew the owners of some of the cars they painted; others were random targets.