Teen accused of vandalism scrubs away graffiti under mom’s watchful eye

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - A 16-year-old accused of taking part in numerous acts of vandalism was out Monday cleaning up the graffiti which he and others allegedly spray painted.

The teen was crouched down on a concrete bridge scrubbing off graffiti after his mom said he confessed to the crime with several of his friends.

He is one of three juveniles and an adult from Beauregard Parish facing serious charges in numerous cases of vandalism in rural areas of Beauregard Parish.

Beauregard deputies said the culprits hit a wide range of signs, mailboxes, vehicles - even bridges since about April 14.

DeRidder is a small city and it didn’t take long to find the areas that were vandalized. But what we didn’t expect to find was one of the teens who is facing charges already paying for the crime.

Monday afternoon, he was scrubbing away under his mom’s close supervision.

Beauregard Sheriff’s deputies have photos of dozens of cases of graffiti made by at least four young people - a 20-year-old and three juveniles. They face charges including criminal mischief, criminal damage to property by defacing with graffiti, criminal trespass, criminal conspiracy to property by defacing, and more.

Chief of Detectives Sylvester Denmond said the cost of the damage is what makes the criminal charges felonies.

“As of today we’re still trying to give an accurate count. I do know we’re looking at several thousand dollars of damages. The numbers and the dollar amount will go up as the investigation continues,” said Denmond.

And deputies are still not sure that all the vandalism has been reported yet. They used mostly black, orange, and blue spray paint to create vulgar or obscene images and in one case a racial slur. They targeted mailboxes, stop signs, trash cans, even a truck and a school bus.

Sadly, Denmond said the young people are now finding out the seriousness of what they did.

“It’s going to affect your mother and father because I’m sure juveniles are not able to pay the amount of restitution that’s going to be required in this case,” said Denmond.

Investigators said most of the vandalism won’t likely come off with soap and water which may drive the cost of restitution upwards.

Those involved are all awaiting court dates, but as you see in the video, at least one parent is taking action before the court decides her son’s fate.

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