Graffiti vandal hits downtown businesses

Santa Cruz,CA,USA

SANTA CRUZ — More than a dozen downtown businesses were stuck cleaning purple-painted hand and footprints off their walls and windows after a vandal struck late Friday, police said.

Targets of the purple paint were City Hall, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Borders, Pacific Trading Co., Jackson’s Shoes, Logos Bookstore, all on or near Pacific Avenue, and Java Junction on Seabright Avenue, police Sgt. Jack McPhillips said.

The vandal, who was still at large but police identified as a transient man who acted alone, also hit three city-owned vehicles and two police patrol cars parked on Pacific Avenue, McPhillips said.

At one business, the message "Stop merchant hate crime" was written with the purple paint.

"He made a big mess, that’s what he did," McPhillips said. "It’s going to be a felony because of the amount it will cost to get this stuff off."

Police provided no estimate for the total damage, other than saying it met the $400 threshold to qualify as a felony.

Other damage, police said, included a newspaper stand thrown through the window of Java Junction.

At least two businesses, the Sentinel and Borders, were vandalized in a similar fashion Thursday night.

Police say they believe the incidents are related.