Search On For Suspect In Vulgar, Racist Antioch Vandalism Attack
ANITIOCH (KPIX) -- The search continued Monday for a suspected vandal who defaced buildings with offensive words and images across several blocks in Antioch over the weekend.
The targets of the vandalism spree thought to have been carried out late Saturday night and early Sunday morning also included cars and a celebrated mural.
The damage was spread across much of downtown Antioch, according to authorities.
The tagger in this graffiti attack were quick and did widespread damage in the area of West 2nd Street and G Street, spray painting vulgar words and phrases, racial slurs and offensive symbols, including swastikas.
"I haven't seen graffiti in the downtown area, or any area in the city of Antioch this extensive. This is a first," said Antioch Code Enforcement Manager Curt Michael.
Street after street and car after car, the graffiti stretched throughout downtown. If an open space was visible, it was tagged.
Yolanda Schamoni owns a downtown Antioch beauty shop that was one of the targets.
"It was a little shock! At first I thought it was just mine," explained Schamoni. "She said 'No, everybody's got it.'"
Downtown Antioch also has several security cameras. Police released two images of a suspect in the crime, including one from Saturday that captured the person vandalizing city-owned vehicles.
A prized mural was another target for the vandals. The 30-year-old historic work of art was defaced with black paint sprayed all over it. However, the mural has a special protective coating to allow for easier clean-up.
Dannie Jones is a Sherwin-Williams sales rep who specializes in professional coatings. He and his store manager grabbed rags and bottles and came downtown to help when they heard what happened.
"This mural been around 30 to 35 years, so we wanted to protect the history here of Antioch," said Jones.
By midday Monday, most of the graffiti had been removed or painted over.
The damage is estimated to be in the thousands of dollars.
Police said the case is still actively under investigation with additional surveillance video evidence set to be collected and reviewed.
Anyone with information on the vandalism is asked to contact Antioch police at 925-779-6945.
