Sheriff's deputies arrest tagger suspected of scrawling on Gold Line

With a swing of a hand-held battering ram, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies awoke the tagger known as Punter at his Highland Park home today and arrested him for allegedly scrawling his moniker on new Gold Line and freeway signs.

Leol Mendivil, 19, was booked on suspicion of felony vandalism. He allegedly specialized in obliterating freeway direction signs on the Harbor and Pasadena freeways with his tag, said Sgt. Augie Pando.

But it was his tagging of the new Gold Line and the Green Line that lead deputies with the Sheriff’s Transit Bureau to his Highland Park house. Inside investigators found evidence of his tagging work in a book and took a computer. 

Pando said Mendivil had done at least $10,000 worth of damage in recent times to state and county properties.

“If they keep tagging, we are more willing to give them a rude awakening,” Pando said.

-- Richard Winton

Comments

[MS]

Now they need to punish him properly, make him paint over grafitti worth ten times the value of the damage he did. Make him paint so much he'll never want to again.

[Jake]

Good Job! I am so tired of these punks. Last week on Bus 720, a punk pulled out a huge knife and carved his crap grafitti on the door window. The bus was packed, so the driver couldn't see what he was doing, and of course everyone was afraid to say anything to a punk with a knife in his hands. I hope Metro actually watches their camera monitors because this punk did all this in front of a bus camera with no fear whatsoever near Wilshire/La Cienega.

[Gary]

This is the problem with Los Angeles. Police only take crime seriously when it's done in the wrong part of town. Lax law enforcement allowed taggers and other crimes to get out of control. Now that the bad element has bled into 'better' neighborhoods in the last 30 years they want to reel it in over night. If they knew his moniker, why wasn't he already picked up? Would tagging crimes stop if law enforcement kicked in these doors on the regular basis? I don't know if law enforcement are apathetic or incompetent.

[Spokker]

"Now that the bad element has bled into 'better' neighborhoods in the last 30 years they want to reel it in over night."

What are you talking about? He tagged the Green Line and the Eastside Gold Line extension (new Gold Line) and that's what prompted him to get arrested.

[JOHN LARK]

I ARREST HIM IN DOWNTOWN FOR COMMITTING GRAFFITI
I WORK FOR A SECURITY COMPANY FOR FASHION DISTRIC
AND AFTER THAT SHERIFF CAME TO OUR STATION
AND ASK WHAT HE TAGGED AND WE SHOWED THEM PICTURE
WITCH HE WROTE "PUNTER" THE SHERIFF LADY SAID
THEY HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR HIM BUT NEVER KNEW
WHO HE WAS TILL NOW.....

[PROLIFIC TAGGER "VIRGO"]

imagen getting your house raided,then you are not home while the sheriffs bust in throught your front door.then being in jail and having an offer in court for your sentence to 16 months in state prison, just for graffiti thats no longer their.which the court wont lower the sentence. this is not nessecary for any human.what we did was wrong and dreadfull to us and to our family.no one can judge us only god can.i do not regret my mistakes nor my thoughtless actions because i learned and grow from where i ended.