HUNTINGTON BEACH : Vandals Challenge Police, 3 Arrested

Sometime late Monday night or early Tuesday morning, vandals struck Huntington Beach’s new downtown parking structure, smearing red paint on virtually every outside wall. One message the vandals painted read: “Catch Me if You Can.”

Police on Thursday announced they had done just that.

Lt. Ed McErlain, spokesman for the Huntington Beach Police Department, said one 19-year-old man, Jeremy Mark Archuleta, and two 17-year-old males were arrested and charged with conspiracy and felonious vandalism. All are from Huntington Beach and all are skateboarders, McErlain said.

Some police officers on Tuesday had theorized that young skateboard riders might be the culprits of the estimated $5,000 in vandalism on the parking structure. Police noted that officers had been cracking down on unsafe and illegal uses of skateboards in the downtown area and some of the skateboarders had expressed resentment.

McErlain said he could not reveal if any of the arrested vandalism suspects had previously been arrested on skateboarding-related charges. But he did say, “If they had frequented the downtown, they probably came in contact with police officers.”

McErlain said two of the suspects were arrested Wednesday, and the third on Thursday morning. One more 19-year-old suspect is still being sought, he said.