HESPERIA — The construction area of the new Petco store in the Hesperia Marketplace Shopping Center was tagged this week, and one City Councilman called it
"community murder."
Vandals' graffiti covered the block wall and fencing of the construction site on the southeast corner of Escondido Avenue and Main Street, which shares a parking lot with Hesperia's Wal-Mart Supercenter.
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Hesperia Station spokeswoman Karen Hunt said the vandalism had not been reported to the station as of Friday.
“Graffiti is community murder as far as I’m concerned,” Councilman Russ Blewett said
“If the graffiti vandals are caught and are juveniles, you can bet we’ll go after their parents and take the cleanup money out of their check."
Hesperia city spokeswoman Rachel Molina said two city crews are available to remove graffiti Monday through Friday, with a goal of removal within 24 hours of each report. However, because it is private property, the property owner would have to contact the city to request the removal.
Messages left with the Pacific Development Group’s Newport Beach office were not returned regarding graffiti removal at its project site.
Molina said graffiti was removed from 3,500 public and private locations in Hesperia during the city’s 2014-15 fiscal year.
If the Sheriff’s Department is called, Molina said restitution could be requested for both public and private victims for each case the authorities compile.
“While we request restitution of parents for underage offenders, it is up to the judge to determine if that will be awarded,” Molina said. “Because applying graffiti is a misdemeanor crime, it does not result in jail time for convicted offenders.”
Graffiti is defined as a nuisance in the Hesperia Municipal Code. It is unlawful for any person to apply graffiti to any public or privately owned structure within the city.
Blewett said graffiti is usually a sign of “juvenile stupidity where the punishment for them is just too easy.”
In April, community and civic leaders broke ground on the new 10,000-square-foot pet store, which is part of the two-building, 24,000-square-foot project that will include nine office suites.
At this time, Pieology Pizzeria, The Habit Burger Grill, Yogurtland and MetroPCS are a few of the businesses set to open after the projected opening of Petco in October. City officials said once completed, the project should generate approximately $8 million in taxable sales per year, and will add 100 temporary and more than 60 permanent jobs.
Residents can call the city’s graffiti hotline number at 760-947-1600 to make a report anonymously. Residents can also report graffiti via the city’s mobile app.