3 Teen-Agers Held Over Graffiti Spray-Painted at Middle School

Three teen-agers were arrested for spray-painting graffiti on 15 walls at a Canoga Park junior high school after an alert neighbor spotted the youths and notified authorities, a Los Angeles police officer said Monday.

Police arrested Jesse Clay Adams, 18, of Lancaster on suspicion of vandalism early Sunday at Christopher Columbus Middle School, Sgt. Roger Ferguson said. Two other youths, ages 16 and 17, were also taken into custody on suspicion of vandalism.

A neighborhood resident called police about 2:30 a.m., and when officers arrived the teen-agers were hiding in bushes, police said. Ferguson said the black-and-white graffiti--sprayed on walls, doors and windows--caused more than $1,000 damage.

The graffiti, confined to an outdoor courtyard area on campus, had been removed or painted over by Monday morning, said Gail Hughes, principal of the Canoga Park school. Hughes credited the arrests to the quick-thinking neighbor, who had probably received one of 100 flyers that school officials had distributed to nearby residents in December.

“The flyers asked neighbors to call school police if they saw anything unusual,” Hughes said. She said Sunday’s incident was the second time since August that graffiti had been painted at the school.

“It was graffiti I had never seen before,” Hughes said. “It was different than the usual tagging we see around here.”

“We don’t know what it is,” Ferguson said. “But some of it was what looked like gang-type graffiti.”

Hughes said the arrests were announced Monday over the school’s intercom system.

“We let the students know that the taggers were apprehended and arrested and that their families will be charged with the cleanup costs,” Hughes said. “I think it sent a clear message that it’s not safe to come into the schools and vandalize.”