Homeless Man Accused of Feud-Spurred Vandalism

A 40-year-old homeless man who allegedly tried to get even with his overweight ex-girlfriend faces charges involving the spray-painting of “FAT” and “200+LBS” on billboards, fences and walls in the Santa Clarita Valley, authorities said Thursday.

James White was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on eight counts of vandalism, but the proceedings were continued to Thursday. His bail was set at $26,000 on the vandalism charges, but Judge Alan Rosenfield denied bail on a separate 1998 felony drug possession case.

During an interview with sheriff’s deputies Wednesday, White admitted to vandalizing more than 40 sites from mid-December to mid-January as retribution for a breakup that occurred about a year ago, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Donna Elliott said.

“He knew [her weight] was a sensitive issue,” Elliott said. “He knew it would get her attention.”

In some cases, authorities said, White wrote the woman’s first and last name in the graffiti, which led to his arrest. Authorities said they contacted the woman, who told them White was bothering her.

There has been “ongoing turmoil” between the two for quite a while, Elliott said.

Deputies arrested White on Wednesday when he came to the Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Station to discuss what Elliot said was an unrelated matter. Authorities had an arrest warrant and took him into custody at the station.

“He was surprised,” Elliott said. “It was the last thing in the world he expected.”

White’s attorney, Ed Consiglio of Lancaster, said he asked for a continuance because his client was unprepared to enter a plea.

Consiglio said White completed a drug-treatment program to keep a 1998 drug-possession arrest off his police record. A condition was that he not get into any more trouble. The vandalism arrest could result in the earlier felony charge being added to his record, his attorney said.

Authorities described White as an unemployed laborer who lives on the streets of Santa Clarita, occasionally taking shelter in a house off Soledad Canyon Road. Consiglio, who was retained by White’s sister, said White lives in the area in some type of storage container.

When the graffiti began surfacing shortly before Christmas, Santa Clarita’s graffiti hotline was inundated with complaints from residents, said Cynthia Boyd, community services coordinator who helps oversee the city’s volunteer graffiti cleanup team.

Tom Haner, a retired county manager, cleaned up many of the sites, including a 20-foot-long message under an Antelope Valley Freeway bridge.

“This guy has kept me busy every day since before the first of the year,” Haner said. “One time, I worked well into the night removing graffiti on San Fernando Road and got up the next morning and it was right back.”

Shortly before the holidays, Haner said some of the graffiti read “Fat Christmas Pig” and other derogatory statements. Later, Haner said, the long messages such as “200+LBS” had been shortened to “LBS.”