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The Sheriff's Office and vigilant residents made a small dent in the graffiti problem in Seascape this week when deputies cited three teenage boys suspected in two separate vandalism incidents.
Sgt. Shea Johnson, who is assigned to the Aptos Service Center, said the Seascape area has been plagued by taggers for at least the past year. From graffiti at shopping centers and the roofs of buildings in Rio del Mar to vandalism of street signs and Highway 1 sound walls, the marks of taggers have been seen throughout the area.
"It comes and goes," Johnson said, pointing out most of the incidents are not gang-related.
Still, the vandalism -- done in spray paint and black marker -- has grown so worrisome, the Aptos Chamber of Commerce, the Graffiti Removal Project and the Sheriff's Office established a reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of vandals.
In the year the money has been available, no one has come forward with good information, according to Johnson.
"We haven't given out any money yet, but we want to," she said.
Solving graffiti cases can be difficult because law enforcement officers generally have to catch someone in the act to cite them for vandalism.
That's exactly what happened Wednesday night, Johnson said. A deputy patrolling near the beach saw a 17-year-old boy vandalize a State Parks sign as he and friends left Beer Can Beach around 11 p.m.,
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according to Johnson. The deputy cited the boy.
The next evening a resident on San Andreas Road called 911 to report two people vandalizing a barn adjacent to Seascape, Johnson said. Two boys, ages 15 and 16, were cited for tagging.
"We've been getting complaints from residents in that area about kids hanging around," Johnson said, encouraging people to call the Sheriff's Office about suspicious activity, especially vandalism.
Johnson said deputies suspect the teens cited this week may have put up other graffiti in the area, but they have not been cited for those incidents.
"We believe they're also responsible for some of the tags in Seascape Village," she said. "It's a mixture, but you see a lot of the same tags."
Johnson asked that people call the Aptos Service Center at 662-0691 to leave messages, which can be anonymous, about where graffiti is located and who might have put up the tags. People can call the Graffiti Removal Project at 427-0462 for help removing the tags.
A community cleanup day is planned for the summer but a date has yet to be set, Johnson said.
