Sheriff's Deputies Arrest Suspected Graffiti Vandal

Santa Barbara - August 3rd, 2010

Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Deputies have arrested a 20-year old Santa Barbara man who’s suspected of hundreds of acts of graffiti vandalism.

Deputies arrested SHAYNE PETER TUTHILL on Friday, July 30, 2010, ending a five-week long investigation into graffiti vandalisms in the Goleta and Santa Barbara area. TUTHILL was arrested at his home in the West 900 block of Mission without incident. Evidence recovered during the investigation reveled that TUTHILL has been one of the Goleta area’s most prolific taggers over the past three years. TUTHILL is believed to be responsible for several hundred acts of misdemeanor and felony vandalism here in Goleta and as far south as Oceanside, CA.

It is believed that TUTHILL has been using a consistent moniker to commit his crimes, and Deputies have been attempting to identify the suspect behind the moniker for over a year. A break in the case came in June when a victim provided video surveillance of TUTHILL. From that crucial piece of information, Deputies served a total of four warrants on TUTHILL collecting several hundred items of evidence including aerosol spray paint cans, paint pens, felt-tip markers, and glass etching devices as well as photographs, text messages, and e-mails implicating TUTHILL in the crimes.

Sheriff’s Deputies worked closely with the District Attorney’s Office during the investigation resulting in the filing of three counts of 594(b)(1) PC - Felony vandalism; two counts of 594(b)(2) PC – Misdemeanor Vandalism; and two counts of 594.2(a) PC – Possession of Graffiti Tools. Additional unsolved crimes have been resolved as a result of the investigation.

TUTHILL is known as a “oner,” a tagger with no gang or tagging crew affiliation. Moniker recognition is a primary goal in tagging culture, which TUTHILL is heavily engaged in. To avoid promoting his crimes or assisting in legitimizing his activity to that audience, his moniker and photographs of his crimes will not be released.

To learn more about how to prevent or remove graffiti in your neighborhood, please contact the Goleta Community Resource Office at 805-968-3878.

For more information regarding news related issues
please contact Drew Sugars, Public Information Officer.

Business Hours: (805) 681-4100
EMAIL:pio@sbsheriff.org