Mother Arrested with Children for Tagging

Los Angeles: A 42-year-old mother has been arrested for chauffeuring a tagging crew of juveniles around the Silver Lake area as they repeatedly vandalized private and public property.  Two of the taggers were her sons.

On August 22, 2006, around 4:30 p.m., Victoria Villicano and five others were arrested for vandalism.  Northeast Area officers had responded to a call of vandals near Micheltorena Elementary School, in the 1500 block of Micheltorena Street.  When police arrived, they saw fresh spray paint on a wall, bearing the letters "HIV" in black.  As officers were conducting the investigation, they received an additional report of spray painting suspects near Sunset Boulevard and Rosemont Avenue.  The officers responded immediately.  They found and arrested Villicano, the driver of an SUV, and five subjects with paint on their hands.

Witnesses came forward and identified all subjects as those who had spray painted the letters  "HIV" along Sunset Boulevard.  One of the witnesses saw Villicano driving the SUV and allowing the subjects to paint graffiti at multiple locations.  The witness followed Villicano's vehicle and called police to report the crimes.

The officers found new graffiti all along Sunset Boulevard, between Virgil Avenue and Lemoyne Street, a distance of over two miles.  The graffiti primarily contained the letters "HIV" or "HIVC" at more than 100 locations.  A preliminary estimate of the damage was "tens of thousands" of dollars.

It was determined that Villicano was the mother of David Ramirez, 19, and one of four juvenile suspects, ages 14-16.  All suspects were booked for 594 PC, Vandalism.  Villicano is being held with no bail. Ramirez's bail is $1,000.

Northeast Detectives are handling the investigation.  No motive has been established.

The graffiti was videotaped and will be made available to the media.

Anyone with information is asked to call Northeast Detectives at 213-485-2566. On weekends and during off-hours, call the 24-hour toll free number at 1-877-LAWFULL (1-877-529-3855).

Comments

[Joe]

Hey Mommy, can you drive me and my friends around, while we destroy other peoples property.

[James R. Hoffa]

The mother should have her tubes tied and her license revoked for life.

This is another example of how doomed LA really is.

Why wasn't School PD dispatched to this call?

[B&W; Op]

Here lies the problem in Los Angeles. Vandalism of private and public property is not looked at by the community as a major problem. Those who think that are not the ones paying thousands of dollars to repair and repaint their properties.

Look at the millions of dollars state and local governments are spending to improve our freeways. No sooner are the sound walls built that groups of punks come along and use it as their own canvas. Can anyone really believe that those intricate spraypaintings on the shoulders of our freeways can be done without anyone seeing it? I doubt it.

I would suggest that anyone under 18 years of age caught vandalizing property be sentenced along with both parents to work with Caltrans to clean up our freeways and repaint damage, as well as pay a fine three times the amount of damage.

That will get parents' attention as to what their kids are doing out in late at night and at the early hours of the morning.

As far as the community goes, keep an eye out for these punks and report it.

[Mike Hunt]

Ahh, what a nice mom!! Contributing to the neighborhood. Sounded like a nice family outing.

[Mark]

A big thank you to the witnesses who came forward. Not sure of the proper punishment for mom and the kids, but how about community service/restitution in cleaning up not only their work, but other's as well.

[George]

Silver Lake is being overrun with spray paint vandalism. Combine that with the garbage flying about on the streets around tha Santa Monica/Western areas and you have to wonder if Villaraigosa cares about the quality of life in LA.

[JQ Public]

Absolutely apalling. I cannot fathom the burden this "family" has already put on the law abiding citizens of LA.

[DLH]

I agree with everyone, this lady is a disgrace, but I can say I'm not surprised. According to the paper, she has several prior arrest including carrying a concealed weapon. They should make her and her kids go out and clean the streets and paint buildings and other structures.

[Marc]

This lady should not have custody of any children under 18 years of age. She's nuts, and should spend at least 10 weeks cleaning up grafitti along with her lovely offspring.

Was there, perchance, a particular reason why this "tagging" crew preferred to spray "HIV" as their graffito ur-trademark?