A Southlake man charged with vandalizing a high school student's Hummer this month told police that environmental concerns regarding the vehicles motivated him to commit the crime and that he also scratched the same make of sport utility vehicle four other times.

James Andrew Jeppe, 72, told police that he is a member of pro-environmental groups Greenpeace and the Sierra Club and that he vandalized the vehicles on five occasions in Southlake and Grapevine in recent months because he dislikes their owners.

"They have a big carbon footprint and they use four times as much gas as the rest of us do, and I don't think it's fair," Mr. Jeppe said, according to the warrant.

Mr. Jeppe admitted during the interview with investigators last week that on Sept. 5 he drove his gold 1998 four-door BMW to Carroll Senior High School and scratched three X's into the sides and rear of student Bradley Bosworth's father's 2008 Hummer H2, which Bradley drove to school that day.

Police have said the vandalism caused about $2,200 in damage.

Mr. Jeppe was recorded on the Hummer's motion-activated surveillance cameras, which Bradley's father installed after his three previous Hummers were each vandalized, the arrest warrant said.

Police released video and photos of a gray-haired man in shorts and a polo shirt last week, and tipsters led detectives to Mr. Jeppe, who is also a member of the Timarron Country Club in Southlake and is on a City Council neighborhood advisory board.

Two employees of the country club positively identified Mr. Jeppe through photos, the warrant said.

During questioning, Mr. Jeppe initially told police he must have a twin who committed the crime but later said, "I've been frustrated lately – I did – I went in there and I did that truck," according to the warrant.

"I walked up and saw the Hummer there, and I read about kids at Southlake Carroll driving $50,000 Hummers. I've got a mentally ill son and everything went together, my wife is diabetic and having problems, the stock market, and I just looked at the truck and I just gashed it," said Mr. Jeppe, who added that his tool of choice was his car keys.

He went on to say he was worried what he did would hurt his wife, whom he said he had already told.

"I don't have a twin, I'm 72 years old and I'm awfully sorry," he told police.

Mr. Jeppe also said that he is a Carroll High School football fan and that he was at the school the day he vandalized the vehicle to purchase tickets to a football game, the warrant said.

He faces a state jail felony criminal mischief charge, punishable by up to two years in state jail and up to a $10,000 fine.

He turned himself in and was released Friday afternoon from Tarrant County Jail on $1,000 bail.

Police received dozens of calls last week from area Hummer owners who described similar acts of vandalism against their vehicles. In many cases, they had not previously reported it.

The investigation is ongoing and police have said additional charges against Mr. Jeppe are possible.