Charges filed against man suspected of tagging cars with swastikas

Felony charges were filed Thursday against a man suspected of spray-painting swastikas on vehicles.

Robert Haymore, 37, pleaded not guilty to eight counts of vandalism of $400 or more in defacement with graffiti and nine counts of attempted hate crime of displaying a Nazi symbol on private property, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Haymore was arrested around 11 a.m. Tuesday in the 1700 block of Centinela Avenue, near La Cienega Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Information Bureau. He has remained behind bars since then, jail records show.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department announced Tuesday that Haymore was suspected of "upwards of 13 hate crime vandalism incidents" in the sheriff's department, Los Angeles Police Department and Inglewood Police Department jurisdictions.

The vehicles' owners discovered Saturday morning that their vehicles had been vandalized after parking them on streets overnight, authorities said.

Green spray-paint had been used to draw swastikas on the exteriors of the vehicles, according to the sheriff's department.

Haymore is due back Oct. 27 at the Airport Courthouse in Los Angeles. A date is scheduled to be set then for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to allow the case against him to proceed to trial.