CLEARLAKE – The Clearlake Police Department reported Thursday that a 17-year-old was arrested following an investigation into a series of graffiti vandalisms that took place on both public and private property.

Lt. Mike Hermann reported that Clearlake Police Officer Carl Miller, currently assigned to the Konocti Unified School District as a school resource officer, arrested the suspect, a continuation school student.

Police allege that the teen is responsible for numerous documented areas in the city where graffiti was observed, according to Hermann.

The graffiti in this case included spray painting and adhesive stickers depicting spray-painted images that were made with the use of stencils, a technique similar to screen printing, Hermann said.

Hermann said the graffiti was neither gang-related nor racially motivated.

According to police, the graffiti markings began showing up last November, reported Hermann. The distinct patterns matched items found in the teen's possession – including spray paints, stencils and work tools used to create the graffiti and stickers.

Following arrest the suspect was booked into Lake County Juvenile Hall for felony vandalism, according to Hermann.

Miller has identified several other sources of graffiti within the city and will be working on pursuing those cases as well, said Hermann.

Still not concluded, said Hermann, are a series of vandalisms featuring hate speech and gang symbols that hit a Clearlake neighborhood last May.

In October, Aqeela El-Amin Bakheit, president of Lake County's branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and her first vice president Rick Mayo, went to the Clearlake City Council with their concerns about the case, and the fact that it had not been solved.

“There hasn't been a positive closure on that one,” Hermann told Lake County News on Thursday.

“We believe we know who may have been responsible for that but there hasn't been enough to prove it,” Hermann added.

Police encourage those who are victims to graffiti to contact the Clearlake Police Department at 994-8251 for investigation and documentation.

Anyone with information about persons responsible for vandalism should contact dispatch or an officer.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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