Reward Billboard for Slain Officer Defaced
A large billboard announcing a $25,000 reward for information about the murder of Officer Howard E. Dallies was vandalized with spray-painted graffiti over the weekend, police said Tuesday.
The 12-by-25-foot billboard, which was unveiled at Westminster Boulevard and Newhope Street on Thursday, is one of five billboards paid for by Patrick Media Group in an effort to capture the 36-year-old patrolman’s killer.
“It’s frustrating,” Sgt. George Jaramillo said. “There are good people willing to donate their billboard space for a worthy cause and then there are others who have absolutely no respect for other people’s property or for what’s being done. This puts us in the same position as other members of the community: victims of tagging.”
Dallies, a nine-year veteran of the force, was killed March 9 during an apparent routine traffic stop. He was the first Orange County police officer to die in the line of duty in three years.
Jaramillo said police remain determined to make an arrest in the case and attributed the graffiti incident to people “with nothing better to do with their time.”
“This in no way overshadows the outpouring of kindness and support people have given this Police Department,” Jaramillo said. “We are in no way allowing one vandal’s act to put a damper on people’s good intentions.”
The billboard lists a toll-free number for anyone with information. It is: (800) 404-4888.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
