2 Teens Get Jail Time For Vandalism

Two 18-year-old men have been sentenced to 210 days in County Jail and ordered to pay $44,000 in restitution for vandalizing the front windows of 62 businesses in downtown Ventura, authorities said Friday.

Richard D. Varela III and Shea Murdock, who had been jailed since their arrests Nov. 22, were released Thursday and given three weeks to look for jobs before returning to jail to serve their terms.

If they find jobs, Varela and Murdock could be allowed to enroll in a work-release program that would let them out of jail to work during the day and return at night.

“This wasn’t really a gang thing,” said William Rutan, a deputy public defender who represented Varela. “This is what you call a tagging crew and what they did was a way of expressing a moniker.”

The pair, both of Ventura, earlier pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to commit vandalism and were sentenced Thursday.

According to police, Varela and Murdock used a sharp rock to etch letters and symbols into 130 business windows on Main Street on Nov. 11. Authorities tracked the men with the help of witnesses who identified the tagging symbols.

After receiving the tips, officers searched the homes of Murdock and Varela and found evidence of the vandalism, authorities said.

The witnesses who tipped police received a total of $500 in cash rewards from Ventura County Crime Stoppers, an organization that encourages people to help police solve crimes.

In addition to jail time and restitution, both men were placed on five years’ probation and barred from associating with a tagging crew. If they violate probation, the teens could be sent to prison for up to three years.