Laguna Hills to Honor Graffiti Fighter

Robert Jorden was fed up with repeatedly seeing graffiti scarring the outside wall of the tire store where he works.

Time after time, crews hired by the city were called in to remove the spray-painted letters and slogans that taggers left behind. It seemed the cycle of vandalism and cleanup would never end.

So, Jorden took the initiative.

On Tuesday, the City Council will recognize Jorden for aiding in the arrest of two teen-age boys he caught spray-painting their monikers on the tire store’s wall. The council will also consider a staff recommendation that Jorden, 21, be given a certificate and awarded $750 for his efforts.

“I hate taggers,” said Jorden, who estimated the store had been hit by taggers 25 times in six months. “There’s no purpose for it.”

Jorden nabbed the two teens Nov. 26. On that Friday night, he sat across the street from the store and waited, as he had done twice before.

About 10:30 p.m., he saw eight teens approach the building and climb onto its roof. He went after them, climbing up just as two boys bent over the edge and sprayed the top of the wall. Other members of the group ran away.

Jorden, who said he also works as an armed security guard, detained the two, taking them to a nearby restaurant where he called the Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff’s Lt. Tom McCarthy, the city’s chief of police services, said Jorden’s action deterred other graffiti vandals, who had made the store wall a favorite target because it is visible from nearby Interstate 5, giving the graffiti maximum exposure.

“Where this particular incident occurred has probably been one of the top places in the city for taggers to go after,” McCarthy said. “When that arrest was made, it really quieted down there.”

Jorden is the third person to be recommended for a certificate and reward in conjunction with a year-old city ordinance that cracks down on graffiti vandals and offers rewards up to $1,000 for the arrest of taggers. The two previous recipients, who were given $150, asked to remain anonymous.

The city ordinance also contains provisions for the prompt removal of graffiti from publicly visible surfaces.

Dave Lewis, the director of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department who oversees the graffiti abatement program, said the city spent about $15,000 last year to have a private contractor paint over or remove the spray-painted markings. The city responded to about 80 acts of graffiti vandalism last year, Lewis said.

McCarthy said sheriff’s deputies in 1993 arrested 10 people, all juveniles, for graffiti vandalism, including the two caught by Jorden.

On Tuesday, after Jorden’s efforts are recognized, the council is scheduled to consider strengthening the graffiti ordinance by making it illegal for a person to possess “graffiti implements,” such as spray-paint cans or paint sticks, in parks, playgrounds, recreational facilities and the public right-of-way.

The council will also consider requiring businesses selling implements that can be used for graffiti to store them in locked areas.