A 23-year-old man suspected of scrawling graffiti across the Santa Clarita Valley was arrested in Newhall Thursday.
Isiah Garcia was arrested when detectives served a search warrant in the 25200 block of Everett Drive, Deputy Josh Dubin of the sheriff’s Santa Clarita Valley Station said.
Detectives believe Garcia used the tag “RANE” and “KASE” in graffiti and other vandalism over the past five years, Dubin said.
He allegedly “used spray paint, permanent markers, etching tools and adhesive stickers to leave his mark on windows, walls and almost any other stationary object within the Santa Clarita Valley,” Dubin said.
During the service of the warrant, detectives found spray paint cans, markers, etching tools and stickers called slap tags along with other evidence linking Garcia to the “RANE” and “KASE” tags, he said.
Garcia’s arrest comes after the sheriff’s detective heading the investigation into the vandalism learned of “RANE’s” true identity, Dubin said.
“The city of Santa Clarita’s Graffiti Removal Program has documented and cleaned approximately 750 graffiti incidents allegedly committed by Mr. Garcia since 2009,” Dubin said. “Local business owners have reported numerous additional acts of vandalism that have been etched into their glass windows.”
The estimated monetary damage associated with the vandalism is still under investigation, Dubin said.
Anyone whose property has been marked with those or other tags were urged to contact the Santa Clarita Valley Station at (661) 255-1121.
— City News Service