Ventura : Police Arrest 8 More in Graffiti Outbreak

Ventura police have arrested eight more suspects in connection with a rash of graffiti along Main Street that caused more than $10,000 in damage to businesses and city property.

In all, police have arrested seven juveniles and four adults, all of Oxnard, since the graffiti occurred the nights of June 3 and 4. More than 100 separate incidents of graffiti were counted by officers.

The adults are Luis Simental, Ricardo Avila, Julio Montez and Augustine Jurado, all 18. They were booked into County Jail on suspicion of criminal conspiracy and felony vandalism. Montez and Jurado remained in jail Friday on $5,000 bail.

Six of the juveniles were cited for criminal conspiracy and felony vandalism and released to their parents. The seventh youth was booked into juvenile hall because he allegedly fought with police officers when they tried to arrest him at Hueneme High School. The other arrests were made without incident.

Ventura Sgt. Carl Handy said the suspects belonged to rival tagging crews and spray-painted the graffiti along Main Street as part of a contest between the two crews.

Police were able to track the youths down because several had been questioned one of the nights graffiti occurred. Officers did not have enough evidence to take them into custody at the time.

“It’s kind of a domino effect,” Handy said. “When you get one, that pops up two more names.”

Handy said police plan to seek restitution from the youths for property damage and the cost of investigating the crime.

“I think it’s certainly appropriate for our agency to get recovery, as well as the crime victims out there,” he said.