FULLERTON : Man Rewarded Again for Fighting Graffiti

James Navarrette has received a $500 reward from the city for helping police catch and convict three graffiti vandals.

In September, Navarrette, 35, noticed three teen-age boys etching graffiti on a wall at Nicolas Junior High School where he works as the school’s resident groundskeeper, police said.

Sgt. Glenn Deveney said Navarrette detained the 13-year-old high school students until police arrived and arrested them.

The youths were convicted of graffiti vandalism and sentenced to community service, Deveney said.

It was not the first time Navarrette helped police apprehend graffiti vandals. When the city implemented the reward program earlier this year, he was the first to receive a reward.

In April, Navarrette spotted a 16-year-old boy defacing a light pole at the intersection of Euclid Street and Hill Avenue, police said. That teen-ager later was convicted of graffiti vandalism in county Family Court and assigned to perform community service as well, Deveney said.

The $500 reward is part of an anti-graffiti program passed by the City Council in February that city officials said is producing good results.

“There’s been a slight decrease in graffiti vandalism in this city since we started the program,” Deveney said. “It’s providing a deterrent to people thinking about perpetrating the crime.”