Shop Windows Vandalized on 4 Downtown Blocks

Vandals scratched the display windows of most stores along four downtown blocks this week, leaving thousands of dollars in damage and prompting store owners to demand more security from the city.

Most of the windows between the San Buenaventura Mission and Foster Library along Main Street were scratched by a key, sharp rock or screwdriver during two nights of vandalism. The incidents occurred Wednesday and Thursday.

The marks made on at least 63 of 89 shops were believed to be the work of taggers, groups of youth who paint or mark their “signature” on public places, and not gangs, according to Lt. Carl Handy of the Ventura Police Department.

“Gang graffiti is meant to glorify, memorialize or challenge,” he said. “While taggers don’t do it to create turf wars, they do it for recognition. Taggers aren’t going to start shooting at each other.”

The perpetrators would face steep fines and hours of community service if apprehended and convicted, Handy said. If they are under 18, he said, their parents will be held liable.

To store owners this news was not heartening. The vandalism comes at a time when downtown is in the midst of a redevelopment campaign.

“The thing that is so upsetting is that the city wanted this redevelopment and we stuck with them through construction and everything else and now they can’t even protect our stores,” said Pamela Dunn, owner of Economy Upholstery. “We’re sitting ducks.”

Dunn and her bookkeeper, Sophia Caldwell, spent Friday going from store to store collecting names, addresses and information in order to write a letter to the city demanding more security.

“This is really the city’s problem, they should patrol down here or put up cameras,” she said. “I was going to repaint [the store’s sign] a nice sage green, but why should I waste my time? They’ll just graffiti the paint as soon as it dries.”

Pointing at her damaged store window, which will cost $300 to replace, Dunn said: “This is the third time in a year and a half I’ve had to replace one of these. What do I have to do, sit in my window with a gun?”

Dunn said she would move her store to midtown when her lease runs out in a year and a half. “I’ve had it with downtown.”

Two police officers patrol downtown throughout the day. At night, officers randomly patrol Main Street along with other parts of the city.

“The bottom line is it would take five people to have someone there” all the time, Handy said. “That’s an expensive item and we have finite resources in Ventura. One event doesn’t create a crisis. But we certainly need to be paying a lot more attention to this area.”

Many shop owners were skeptical of police efforts, saying it must have taken at least a few hours to damage so many windows, including 32 at the Foster Library, now under renovation, and all 16 windows at the Daily Grind coffee shop. Two shops on either side of the downtown police storefront were also damaged.

Natalie Siman, owner of Natalie’s Fine Threads, said it would cost her $800 to replace her large front window. “They even got up there,” she said, pointing at a window about 15 feet high. “So they must have sat on each other’s shoulders. This really disrupts our holiday season.”

Ron Calkins, director of the Public Works Department, said the city has a graffiti-removal project aimed at cleaning up paint but no corollary program to deter vandals from marking on glass. He said the city would need to do more research to determine the scope of the problem.

Cathy Barnett, owner of Main Street Jewelers, said she thinks the city should put up a reward to catch the perpetrators. “So many businesses were hit,” she said. “I just can’t believe nobody saw them.”

Times staff writer Tina Dirmann contributed to this story.