Eastside Business Owner Fed Up After Graffiti Vandals Strike Again

A surveillance camera at a Santa Barbara business captured four suspected taggers in the act on Saturday morning.

The video shows four males, some who appear to be under age, approaching the Economy Supply Company on the 600 block of Haley street around 1:30 a.m.

The suspected taggers are seen spray painting walls, while another serves as a lookout.

Owner Tom Rademacher spotted the vandalism when he showed up to work hours later.

“At 7:30 in the morning when I was driving in to work, I noticed some graffiti coming into work. When I drove up front, I checked the side of the building because it’s like a billboard for them. But, they got me too.”

Rademacher said his business gets tagged at least once a month.

In this latest incident, he just wants an apology.

“I’m hoping maybe somebody will recognize them and maybe they would just come and say, ‘Hey, I’m sorry,'” Rademacher said.

Santa Barbara police obtained the surveillance video on Tuesday.

“We will try and see if there’s any relationship between the graffiti we see, the monikers, to other reports we’ve received,” said Sgt. Riley Harwood.

The Haley corridor is lined with graffiti.

Police said it’s not just gang members marking their turf.

It’s also teens and taggers who get a thrill out of the notoriety.

“One of the things that motivates them is the thought that their moniker or whatever it is they are putting up is going to be seen by a lot of people. So they gravitate towards those locations, one of them is Haley Street, which is very heavily trafficked by people going from downtown to the Eastside,” said Harwood.

While there has been no spike in graffiti vandalism in the last three years, police said it remains at a consistent level.