Sebastopol Teen Arrested; Suspected In Nearly 200 Vandalism Incidents
SEBASTOPOL (CBS SF) -- Sebastopol police have arrested a 16-year-old who they believe went on a month-long graffiti spree, striking nearly 200 times at various sites around the Sonoma County city, authorities said.
The male juvenile was arrested on multiple charges of suspicion of felony vandalism.
In November 2019, police responded to a report of vandalism in a public bathroom. Investigators said the suspect had tagged the letters PEAK and KKS inside the bathroom.
Over the next few months, victims, witnesses and police observed many more identical incidents of vandalism on mostly public surfaces throughout the city.
The suspect used permanent marker, spray paint and other methods in almost 200 separate incidents of vandalism. Since the vandalism was unique in both style and content, investigators believed the same suspect committed the tagging.
During the investigation, police installed hidden video cameras in public places throughout the city to catch the suspect on video and were
ultimately able to identify the suspect with additional help from social media and local school officials.
After identifying the suspect, police arrested him at his school on Friday. During a subsequent interview with police the suspect admitted to committing the vandalism.
The estimated damage due to the vandalism was in the thousands of dollars, police said.
