Ryan ChartrandOfficers from the San Luis Obispo Police Department arrested a man believed to be one of the most active graffiti vandals in the city of San Luis Obispo Saturday, according to a police press release.
Police arrested Nicolus Rodriguez, 24, of San Luis Obispo at his home on the morning of March 29. Rodriguez was linked with at least 24 different graffiti vandalisms in San Luis Obispo during the past year, which included spray painting bridge abutments, trash dumpsters, signs, signal boxes, railroad property, and applying stickers with graffiti on them to signs, according to the press release. Most of the graffiti featured the word “PILO.”
“We’d known about the graffiti for about a year, and we’re always interested in vandalism incidents around the city,” said Lt. Bill Proll of the San Luis Obispo Police Department. “It was a few months ago that additional information began to surface, which enabled the warrant and his subsequent arrest.”
While the vandalism had been prevalent throughout much of the town – including the Cal Poly campus – Proll noted that the “PILO” graffiti was most concentrated around where Rodriguez lived, on the northeast side of San Luis Obispo.
When serving the warrant, officers confiscated 73 cans of aerosol spray paint, permanent marking pens, postal service stickers, photographs of graffiti, and numerous sketch books which contained the word “PILO,” according to the press release.
Proll noted that Rodriguez was “very calm and cooperative” in being arrested without incident and booked at the county jail on felony vandalism charges, according to police. His bail was set at $10,000.
Investigators are still compiling the specific crimes in which Rodriguez was involved and are unable to fully assess the total cost of the vandalism, although police estimate it will amount to thousands of dollars.