The Campbell Reporter

News

An increase in graffiti tagging has the police asking for help

By Koren Temple

Graffiti tagging at Canyon Heights Academy over the weekend of Sept. 16 has prompted the Campbell police to offer a $200 reward for information leading to the arrest of the vandals.

"There was graffiti all over the outside exterior of the school and the buildings," Campbell Police Capt. Russ Patterson said.

School officials at the K-8 Catholic school on the site of the former Hazelwood Elementary School reported the incident when they arrived on campus after the weekend. The graffiti was immediately cleaned off the walls.

The damage at the school at 775 Waldo Road was estimated at $500.

"Normally we get graffiti when kids get back to school, but lately it has been an ongoing occurrence in the West Campbell and the San Tomas neighborhoods," Patterson said.

Police said there has been a rash of graffiti on the walls of public facilities and parks in the Sobrato and Sharmon Palms neighborhoods, which border San Tomas Expressway.

On Sept. 16, police spotted two persons spray-painting graffiti on the pedestrian overcrossing at W. Rincon Avenue near John D. Morgan Park at 1:15 p.m.

"This area has really been getting hit by graffiti, and we are working on a couple of leads," Patterson said.

According to police, the number of graffiti cases throughout Campbell increased from 39 in 2004 to 64 in 2005.

Since the beginning of the year, graffiti has been spotted underneath the Creekside Bridge, at the bottom of several signposts in downtown Campbell, the parking lot on Orchard City Drive and behind the Sonoma Chicken Coop restaurant. Some of the incidents involved gang-related taggings, while others involved individual taggers, police said.

Police do not believe the tagging incidents in the San Tomas area are gang-related. They are not ruling out the possibility that the multiple taggings in the area are linked.

"We have some leads that may suggest they are related," Patterson said. "Hopefully the leads will help us catch these guys because the graffiti is causing hundreds of dollars of damage."

The police ask anyone with information on the graffiti to call 408.866.2121.