Vandalism

Antonio Villaraigosa Countdown: In 2009, Vandals Attack Villaraigosa Mural at Susy's Meat Market in East Hollywood

After nearly eight years at helm, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is leaving office on June 30, 2013. That puts today's Villaraigosa Countdown at 156 days. Some people love him, others hate him -- and many others probably still can't pronounce his name. In a tribute of sorts, L.A. Weekly is ... More >>

Asian Women Targeted In Another Act Of Sexist, Racist Vandalism At UCLA

Looks like UCLA, ranked one of the best universities in the world, has a serial idiot on its hands. On the day we reported that someone posted a racist, sexist message outside the offices of the Vietnamese Student Union and the Pacific Islanders Student Association, a similar scrawling was discover ... More >>

Janeth Lopez Charged In Graffiti Murder Outside Filipinotown Church

Janeth Lopez, a 22-year-old who was allegedly spraying graffiti on a church west of downtown before a deadly shooting broke out was charged today with murder. The woman is suspected of helping to spark the violence after a pair of parishioners told her to stop tagging the house of worship on Beverl ... More >>

Craig & Robbie Billboard Defaced On Beverly Boulevard; Anti-Gay Hate Crime?

The L.A. billboard of of a gay online radio show has been defaced for the second time, according to its Hollywood broadcaster. The advertisement for "The Craig & Robbie Hour" looks like it's been splooged by a massively horny fan, but the internet radio company is taking it as a "hate crime." Acco ... More >>

Enrique Medrano: Graffiti Tagger Got City Gig To Clean Up Own Vandalism -- Cops

This is perhaps the greatest street racket ever ... ... until someone allegedly got caught. Burbank police say 53-year-old Enrique Medrano was employed by a city contractor to handle graffiti removal. Except that some of the graffiti was his own!

Hard rock art

Michael Poret, Beverly Hills Banker Who Shot Out Windows, Had Meth, D.A. Says

When 58-year-old Beverly Hills investment bank employee Michael Poret was arrested twice for a string of window shootings in the 90210 and along Ventura Boulevard earlier this summer the big question was why? Well, as the L.A. County District Attorney's office today threw the book at the Encino man ... More >>

Street Art Skirmish: Readers Respond to Our Story

Los Angeles' War on Street Artists

The art world sees a vibrant movement. Metro's cops see jail fodder.

How the City of Gardena Turns Every Piece of Graffiti Into a Felony Crime

In this week's cover story, "Los Angeles' War on Street Artists," we reveal that the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, with the help of city and county prosecutors, figured out how to try all graffiti artists as gangsters in court. In short: For the last five years or so, the sheriff has been treat ... More >>

Art Walk Riot Averted; LAPD, Occupy Can All Get Along, Apparently

See also: *The Messages of Chalkupy Slideshow. The news media prepared for the worst, but it turned out the only riot was over news van parking spaces at the monthly event called Art Walk in downtown Los Angeles. We kid. The LAPD was geared up as notoriously vociferous demonstrators from Occupy Oa ... More >>

Manny Castro's Chick-fil-A Stunt Gets Him Arrested by Torrance Police

Manny Castro, the self-described street artist who admitted he painted "Tastes Like Hate" on the side of a Torrance Chick-fil-A last week in response to the chicken empire's anti-gay-marriage stance, has been arrested, Torrance police tell the Weekly. Sgt. Steven Jenkinson said Castro was collared ... More >>

Michael Steven Poret, Beverly Hills Broker, Shot Windows in 90210, Valley, Cops Say

A Beverly Hills investment broker has been arrested twice as a suspect in "a series of window smashes" in Sherman Oaks, Woodland Hills and Beverly Hills, according to police. The LAPD says that, after searching the 58-year-old's Encino home last week cops came up with "bb guns, sling shots, firearm ... More >>

Occupy Claims LAPD Kicked Suspect at Chalk Walk / Art Walk Clash (VIDEO)

Occupy LA organizers claim police went over the line in confrontations with Chalk Walk demonstrators at Art Walk last Thursday night -- and that video proves it. They say a skateboard-carrying man was shot with a non-lethal around and then kicked by cops. Officers "smash his face into the pavement, ... More >>

L.A. Tagging Crews Could Now Get Gang-Like 'Injunctions', Thanks to City Attorney's Settlement With MTA Vandals

L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich won a huge battle today in his war against the city's taggers and street artists. He settled with eight alleged members of a prolific Los Angeles tagging crew called the "Metro Transit Assassins," responsible for America's largest tag along the L.A. River. The pi ... More >>

Catharine Whelpley, Northridge Mom, Allegedly Aided Girls in Anti-Semitic Poop-Smearing Spree

Remember the Northridge "Mean Girls" who allegedly scrawled swastikas on their classmates' front walkways and smeared poop on their cars in April? Well, according to the L.A. City Attorney, they had their very own Amy Poehler on hand to drive the getaway vehicle. (Refresher course: Poehler was the ... More >>

Serial Carjacker Beats Women, Takes Purses on Westside, in Valley -- LAPD (VIDEO)

Usually carjackers commit crimes of the moment by grabbing a car to get away from a just-committed felony or using a vehicle for a one-night joyride. But cops today announced they're looking for perhaps L.A.'s first serial carjacker, a man they're calling the "opportunistic bandit." And he's violen ... More >>

Quiksilver's Venice Surf Shop Vandalized; Venice Originals Store Burglarized

veniceoriginals.com​Venice surf shops were burglarized and vandalized over the weekend. The corporate newcomer to the liberal, beach-side community, Quiksilver Boardriders Club, was treated to a wash of white paint so thick that you couldn't even see inside its windows, one observer told us. ... More >>

Devin 'Thor' Dickey, Young Valley Tagger, Arrested by Burbank Police for Vandalism -- 'Just the Start' of Crackdown on Graffiti Crew

pixiecanfly via Tumblr​Burbank police announce today that two young taggers they arrested on November 3 -- Devin Dickey, 20, and an unnamed 16-year-old girl -- are possibly facing felony charges after they allegedly vandalized multiple pieces of property across the San Fernando Valley. Invest ... More >>

Obama Campaign Office Shot up With BB Gun in Los Angeles; LAPD on Look Out For Culprit

Pete Souza for the White House​If you hate President Obama, please don't do stupid stuff like shoot up his local campaign office with a BB gun and throw an unknown object through the window. That's a surefire way to get lots of cops looking for your dumb ass, which was the case last night aft ... More >>

Tomas Benson, Alleged to be Tagger 'Reuts,' Wanted: Deputies Say Graffiti Crew Members Like Him 'Pass Themselves Off as Artists'

LASD.Mad dog Ruets.​Authorities are searching for a graffiti tagger they say has ties to noted artist Revok. Tomas Benson, 28, paints under the moniker Ruets and has ties to Mad Society Kings, a group described by sheriff's officials as a tagging crew to which Revok, featured in the wildly su ... More >>

Art Sex Crime Tagging Crew Targeted in L.A. County Sweep: 8 Alleged Graffiti Vandals Arrested

MySpaceArt Sex Crime has a MySpace page.​Cops fanned out across the L.A. area in pursuit of members of Art Sex Crime, an 8-year-old tagging crew they say is responsible for more than 1,600 acts of vandalism: 11 people were arrested yesterday in eight different SoCal cities -- mostly in the sou ... More >>

Yarning Is Not a Crime

RISK, Legendary L.A. Street Artist, Laments What He Sees As L.A. City Crackdown in Shadow of MOCA's 'Art in the Streets' Show

RISK on the wall.​It's a bittersweet moment for the street art community in L.A. MOCA's groundbreaking exhibition "Art in the Streets" has brought mainstream recognition not only for the evolution of graffiti as a serious medium but for L.A. as a new capital for the form. But even as spray ca ... More >>

Revok: How a Street Artist Ended Up With Higher Bail Amount Than Alleged Rapists, Molesters

bert 23Revok's work.​There's been a lot of chatter in the L.A. art world about the arrest and subsequent six-month jailing of Revok, whose work appears in the just-opened "Art in the Streets" exhibition at MOCA. Fellow artists want to know how he ended up with nearly one-third of a million in ... More >>

Revok, Famed L.A. Graffiti Artist, Arrested at LAX, Held on $320,000 Bail

Gregory BojorquezRevok.​Updated after the jump: Revok gets 180 days for violating his probation. A "free Revok" campaign erupted on Twitter over the weekend after the Fairfax district street artist was nabbed at LAX. Sheriff's officials said the man born Jason Williams was arrested at LAX la ... More >>

Gay-Friendly Hollywood Church Vandalized AGAIN -- This Time, in Broad Daylight

​There's a homophobic Hollywood-ite on the loose, and he's slashing "equality"s left and right: One month after the banner in front of the Hollywood United Methodist Church was vandalized to read "THIS CHURCH SUPPORTS MARRIAGE EQUALITY," the replacement banner -- an open letter to the mystery ... More >>

Banksy Boy-With-Gun Art in Westwood Vandalized; Singer Pia Mia Has the Photos

Pia MiaBanksy's boy soldier gets splashed with paint.​Looks like the latest twist for British guerrilla artist Banksy is Friday night/Saturday morning vandalism for his attention-getting boy-with-a-gun piece in Westwood. Teen singer Pia Mia, who has taken to serenading the work behind a Westw ... More >>

'Marriage Equality' Banner Vandalized at Gay-Friendly Hollywood Church (PHOTO)

Hollywood United Methodist ChurchThe Hollywood church wears a red AIDS ribbon on its steeple​Updated after the jump: Sassy retaliation! Of all L.A. neighborhoods, you'd think at least free-wheelin' Hollywood (well, and its sister city to the West) would be a safe place to pray to whomever we ... More >>

Food Truck Justice: Miguel Morales and Dainler Baquevano Charged with Extorting "Rent" from Vendors

by ricardodiaz11 via flickr​Recently, it seems that food trucks have been getting the shaft. First, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved restaurant-style letter grades, meaning pesky health inspections for the mobile eateries. And earlier this month, a band of Abbot Kinney store ... More >>

Muralgeddon

Parking Meter Broken? In L.A., That's Just Too Bad -- No Free Parking

​In a city known for traffic, bad drivers, car theft and parking hassles, there's always been one respite from it all, like a magical open bar in some overpriced club: The broken parking meter, bestowing upon the finder free parking. Well, no more.

Prominent AIDS Monument Vandalized in East L.A.

LGBT POVThe vandalized section of The Wall Las Memorias in East L.A.​The Wall Las Memorias, the first publicly funded AIDS monument in the nation, was recently vandalized, reports Frontiers news editor Karen Ocamb. Someone damaged a portion of the monument with yellow paint, which is located ... More >>

Ronald L. Barron, L.A. Homicide No. 22: Gang Intervention Worker Slain After Confronting Tagger [Updated: Suspect Arrested]

Los Angeles Police Department detectives arrested a suspect in connection with the murder of a 40-year-old gang intervention worker today. The suspect is a minor. Police say he is not a gang member, but is known as a tagger and acted alone. Ronald L. Barron was shot and killed February 7 after he ... More >>

Councilman To Take Down Taggers In The Valley

Dennis Zine.​Councilman Dennis Zine will put on his Los Angeles Police Department reservist's uniform and participate in a task force targeting graffiti taggers in his own district in the West Valley Tuesday morning. The task force, which will include Gang Intervention Team officers, will che ... More >>

Graffiti Artist Arrested At His Own Art Exhibit

revok1.com​Graffiti artist Jason Williams, also known as Revok, was arrested at an exhibition of his work at a Mid-City gallery and graffiti-art store Sunday, authorities announced. The 32-year-old, described as a prolific tagger whose moniker has been spotted throughout the region, was nabbe ... More >>

The Arrest Of An Elderly Tagger Could Answer The Aged Question: 'Who Is John Scott?'

The sheriff's department says he's the oldest tagger they've busted even though the suspect, a 74-year-old, is more of "snipe" marketer who's allegedly been plastering bumper stickers around town that read, "Who Is John Scott?"​The bizarre saga unfolded after sheriff's investigators began searchin ... More >>

The Balloon Has Burst: Papa Heene Is A Former Convict

Last week it was hard to avoid the saga of "Balloon Boy," 6-year-old Falcon Heene, who was believed to have been aboard his family's homemade weather balloon as it drifted above Colorado but who was later found safe at home. The sheriff in Larimer County, Colorado, where the Heenes live, called the ... More >>

Trutanich's Anti-Graffiti Injunction Draws Fire

The response to L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich's proposal, reported in yesterday's L.A. Times, to criminalize the mere gathering of members of graffiti-tagging crews has not been pretty. Graffiti is one of those quality of life issues that people can point to when explaining why Los Angeles is ... More >>

Schoolgate: Mount Washingtonians Decry Barrier

This morning's Eastsider L.A. carries a story about a neighborhood coming to grips with a steel gate and fence that have unexpectedly walled off the entrance to their local school: "It was not uncommon on school days for the front doors of Mt. Washington Elementary to be swung wide open, a welcoming ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Mile Wide/Inch Deep Dept. The results of next week's L.A. City Attorney race will be seen as an indicator of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's clout. L.A. TimesKicker Cop Justified A lawyer for the El Monte Police Officer Association claimed the televised kick to the head of suspect Richard Rodriguez was ... More >>

55-Year-Old Virgin Loses Head

For the second time in seven years Saint Monica Catholic Church has had its Virgin Mary statue vandalized. A priest discovered the headless Mary, which has stood at 725 California Ave., Santa Monica, for 55 years, shortly before Easter Sunday services were to begin. Its head was located on t ... More >>

Guser Gets a Year

Cops are mad he didn't get more time. From the Daily News: Tagger gets year for damaging dozens of buses Deputy, prosecutor decry judge's ruling in case One of L.A.'s most prolific taggers was sentenced to a year in jail Monday for etching his moniker on dozens of Metro buses citywide - a punish ... More >>

Where Are the Adults?

City Hall can’t cope as L.A. neighborhoods get hit by taggers gone wild

The Long Wait

Staking out taggers with the LAPD

Trouble Girl

Young graffiti artist JERK throws up a name for herself

CALL AND RESPONSE: Citizen Fletcher

Trouble Girl

Young graffiti artist JERK throws up a name for herself

Virgin Territory

Who's Defacing Our Lady of South-Central

Vinny and the Very Bad Day