MONROE — The smeared ink on one boy’s hands aroused suspicion from patrol officers who saw him with friends at Lake Tye’s skate park. Officers had discovered the park bathroom had fresh graffiti done with pink spray paint and some more in black, department spokesman Cmdr. Paul Ryan said. The boy flatly denied writing graffiti, but officers didn’t gloss over a can of pink spray paint found in the boy’s backpack.
“The individual was asked if he went into the restroom and he said no, but when told it is under surveillance, quickly changed his story saying he did in fact just recently enter the restroom,” Ryan wrote by email.
Police think a group of children 12 and younger were doing the vandalism, Deputy Chief Ryan Irving said. The frequent, almost daily, graffiti to the park’s bathroom for two weeks largely stopped after police encountered the boy Wednesday, June 29.
“The reality is we had some good parents” who got involved after police made an identification, Irving said.
The case is still under investigation, Irving said July 8.
