Behind the Badge
A woman who saw a tagger defacing her property chased, tackled and detained the suspect Saturday until police arrived and arrested him.
The action began to unfold about 4:30 p.m. when the woman, standing at her kitchen window, saw the 15-year-old pull out a spray can and point it at her car, which was parked in front of her home in the 3400 block of W. Valencia.
“She started yelling and pounding on her window to scare him off,” said Sgt. Kathryn Hamel.
The tagger looked at her, “smiled and then tagged the city sidewalk” in front of her home, Hamel said.
He then sped off on her sidewalk.
Upset, the woman sprinted after him, catching up to him near Valencia Park School.
The suspect tried to run away again – so the woman tackled him, holding him until police arrived, Hamel said.
“This was a courageous effort by a citizen who was fed up by what she saw,” Hamel said. “We generally encourage residents who witness crimes to call us, but in this case, it worked out and an alleged vandal is in custody.”
Police later linked the man to other cases of graffiti in the neighborhood, police said
