LAPD arrests 4-person graffiti crew, including a city employee, for alleged vandalism
The Los Angeles Police Department arrested a four-person graffiti crew involved in an alleged "coordinated vandalism spree" targeting downtown LA and other locations throughout the region, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said during a Thursday news conference.
"One aspect of this investigation that is especially disappointing to me, among those arrested, was a city employee," McDonnell said.
Targeting high-profile locations, the crew allegedly racked up $175,000 in damage to commercial buildings and historic properties, using specialized climbing equipment and rappelling gear. According to prosecutors, the suspects used drones to record their vandalism, then profited from it.
"To date, investigators have connected the suspects to acts of vandalism at 12 locations throughout our city, including 11 buildings in and around downtown Los Angeles and one location in the Mid-Wilshire area," McDonnell said.
It took extensive investigative work to link the alleged suspects to the acts of vandalism, the chief said, with months of surveillance, search warrants, digital evidence, and social media analysis.
The Department of Water and Power assisted in the investigation, McDonnell said, as one of its employees was a suspect and was subsequently arrested.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman listed the variety of felony charges each of the four suspects face, including potentially years in prison.
Javier Rezendez Rocha, 38, an LADWP employee, is charged with 12 felony counts of vandalism; Michael Ray Gonzales, 41, of Pico Rivera is charged with seven felony counts of vandalism; Francisco Rodriguez Aguilar, 37, of West Covina, and Richard Evan Ward II, 45, of Oceanside, are each charged with two felony counts of vandalism.
"This isn't a bunch of kids that decided on some type of lark because they were bored one night to go ahead and grab some spray paint and tag some buildings," Hochman said. " No, these are grown men, adults who decided that they were going to profit over the desecration of buildings by their graffiti."
