LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell and L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the arrest of four individuals on Thursday.
An investigation was led by the LAPD’s graffiti task force. Authorities connected the four graffiti artists to an estimated $175,000 in property damage across 12 different locations in Downtown L.A.
According to the press conference, the artists targeted historic buildings such as the L.A. Stock Exchange building on Spring Street and the E. Clem Wilson Building on Wilshire Boulevard.
“A healthy community has clean streets, thriving businesses, safe neighborhoods, and public spaces that residents can take pride in,” said Chief McDonnell. “Graffiti undermines every one of those goals.”
The artists allegedly used advanced equipment including “specialized climbing equipment and rappelling gear to access high-value targets.” The LAPD posted images of the equipment and graffiti on their social media.
Among the four arrested was Javier Roca, 38, an electrical craft helper at the LAWDP.
“One aspect of this investigation that is especially disappointing to me, among those arrested was a city employee,” said McDonnell. “Today’s announcement demonstrates that no public employee is above the law. Everyone is accountable.”
District Attorney Hochman named the other alleged perpetrators — Michael Gonzalez, Francisco Rodrigo Aguilar and Richard Evan Ward II. Their ages range from 37 to 40 years old. Roca, the LAWPD employee, is being charged with 12 felony counts and faces up to 10 years in County jail.
“This isn’t a bunch of kids that decided on some type of lark because they were bored one night to go ahead and grab some spray paint and tag some buildings,” said Hochman. “No, these are grown men, adults who decided that they were going to profit over the desecration of buildings by their graffiti.”
Authorities say the buildings targeted are historic L.A. landmarks. While some like E. Clem Wilson — built in 1930 — are mostly abandoned, others like the Trade Lofts on 7th St. are still in use for spaces like art studios.
“They think that there are some type of cool rock band that gets to sell merch to its customers,” said Hochman. “They’re a bunch of criminals that are trying to profit, greedily profit. This is not, as the chief said, artistic expression. This is sheer greed, sheer profiteering at the expense of all of us.”
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