Residents help in capture of graffiti suspect By Monica M. Brown/Staff Writer May 4, 2004, 08:53 am

Thanks to the eagle eyes of some local residents, an Alamogordo man has been arrested for defacing 17 city signs.

Detective Matt Flotte with the Alamogordo Department of Public Safety said residents saw a man writing graffiti on signs around town and called police, enabling the agency to capture the suspect.

Flotte said the suspect, Gregory Easthouse, 22, of 1209 14th St., was quickly located by police units and admitted defacing the signs. But when officers attempted to take him into custody, Flotte said, Easthouse resisted.

Easthouse has been charge, Flotte said, with 17 counts of criminal damage and one count of resisting or obstructing an officer.

He is to appear in municipal court on the charges.