On January 30, 2013, Century Station deputies assigned to the Lynwood Community Oriented Policing Team noticed a significant amount of fresh graffiti in the southwest portion of the city. The graffiti included a gang name and variations of its name spray painted on the exterior walls of eight different locations.
Later that evening, the deputies observed five Hispanic males dining in a local restaurant, all of whom had been previously identified as local street gang members.
The deputies contacted the gang members and recovered a loaded .22 caliber pistol from one of them. The deputies noticed that one of the males had blue spray paint on his hands similar to the graffiti the deputies had just noticed. A spray paint can tip was recovered from his pocket and upon questioning, the male admitted to vandalizing homes in the area. Other evidence of the vandalism was recovered from the area.
The other three males were confirmed as being on active probation. Their probation officer was notified of their association with the other two suspects and subsequently found to be in violation of the conditions of their probation.
All five males were arrested and booked for various charges. The investigation into identifying all of the victims is ongoing.
