ARVIN, Calif.
A tagger goes on an all-night graffiti spree Tuesday night in Arvin, but with the help of the public police caught the vandal red-handed.
Arvin police say 19-year-old Ruben Santoyo hit nearly a dozen buildings, including two government buildings.
Police say this isn't the first time Santoyo has tagged buildings in Arvin.
"We know that he has been doing it around town for a while," Arvin police Chief Tommy Tunson said.
But, Tuesday night was a little different. They say he hit about 10 buildings around town, including the Dollar Tree and the AutoZone.
Police say Santoyo got a little too brave when he was using red paint to tag a building across the alley from the police department.
"He was over here behind the building with the spray paint, using spray paint it was on his lips and fingers," Tunson said.
Cops say they don?t think Santoyo is a gang member, just a tagger.
They say he still had several cans with him when he was arrested.
"We apprehended him 7:30, 8:00 in the morning so that really unusual. It appeared to us that he had been doing it all night," Tunson said.
Police say Santoyo even hit the library and the DMV. They say the damage could reach into the thousands.
Police say it was easy to figure out which buildings Santoyo had tagged since he always uses the same design.
"We noticed the writing matched the writing on several of the other buildings in the city," Tunson said.
Santoyo is in the Kern County jail facing numerous counts of graffiti and vandalism. He is being held on $13,000 bail.
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